lifornia 

onal 
ity 


RELIGIONS  OF  MISSION  FIELDS 

AS  VIEWED 
BY  PROTESTANT  MISSIONARIES 


RELIGIONS  OF  MISSION  FIELDS 

AS  VIEWED 
BY  PROTESTANT  MISSIONARIES 


re    e£   evos   trav    «$vos 

KO.TOIKUV  ir  iraj/Tos  TrpocrwTrov  TT}S  yv;s,  opuras 
TrpocrTfTayfjievov?  xatpotis  KO.I  ras  opo^ecrtas  r^s 
/caTot/ct'cts  avroJv,  ^rjreiv  TOV  ^eov  ci  a/aa  ye 
avrov  KO.I  evpoicv,  KOL  ye  ov 
U.TTO  evos  eKacrrov  rjfAwv  inrdp^ovra. 

ACTS  xvii.  26,  27. 


STUDENT  VOLUNTEEE  MOVEMENT 

FOR  FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

1905 


Copyright,   1905,  by 

STUDENT  VOLUNTEER   MOVEMENT 
FOR  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


PREFACE 

THIS  text-book  has  been  prepared  to  supplement 
two  others  upon  non-Christian  religions  previously 
used  in  the  classes  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement 
for  Foreign  Missions.  One  of  these,  written  by  Prin- 
cipal Grant,  is  descriptive  in  character;  the  other,  by 
the  late  Dr.  Kellogg  of  India,  is  comparative  in  its 
treatment  of  the  ethnic  faiths.  As  will  be  seen,  most 
of  the  writers  in  the  present  volume  have  kept  con- 
stantly in  view  the  needs  of  that  large  body  of  stu- 
dents who  are  either  planning  to  enter  foreign  mis- 
sionary service,  or  who  wish  to  look  through  the  eyes 
of  experienced  workers  upon  the  religions  of  the  vari- 
ous mission  fields.  Practical  points  have  more  value 
for  such  persons  than  theoretical  views,  and  the  writers 
from  their  long  and  familiar  acquaintance  with  be- 
lievers in  the  religions  which  they  discuss  have  aimed 
to  minister  to  their  desires. 

Every  text-book  of  the  series,  of  which  this  is  the 
thirty-first,  labors  under  the  limitations  of  space,  be- 
ing intended  for  voluntary  study  by  very  busy  students ; 
and  the  present  book  must  be  regarded  only  as  intro- 
ductory to  a  much  wider  study  of  other  volumes  treat- 
ing of  these  religions  individually.  Study  classes  are 
advised  to  make  liberal  use  of  such  additional  literature, 
both  in  order  to  supplement  a  necessarily  fragmentary 
treatment  of  the  various  religions,  and  also  that  the 
class  sessions  may  furnish  fresh  facts  in  amplification 
of  those  which  the  text-book  supplies.  Preceding  each 


VI  PREFACE 

chapter  of  this  volume  are  a  number  of  references  to 
suitable  books  for  additional  reading.  The  list  might 
have  been  indefinitely  increased,  and  as  it  now  stands 
the  specialist  will  question  the  introduction  of  certain 
volumes  and  the  omission  of  others.  German,  French, 
and  Dutch  works  upon  non-Christian  religions,  which 
are  so  numerous  and  valuable,  have  been  but  sparingly 
referred  to,  since  they  are  rarely  found  in  average 
college  libraries.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  many 
references  to  books  by  men  who  are  not  specialists 
upon  religions.  These  have  been  included  for  the 
reason  that  many  small  institutions  have  student  mis- 
sionary libraries  containing  such  volumes  but  are  with- 
out standard  works  upon  the  ethnic  religions,  and 
their  needs  have  been  kept  constantly  in  mind. 

The  inclusion  of  Judaism  and  Roman  Catholicism, 
especially  the  latter,  among  the  religions  here  pre- 
sented may  raise  the  question,  Why  should  two  re- 
ligions of  so  exalted  a  character  be  discussed  upon  the 
same  plane  with  the  so-called  heathen,  or  pagan,  re- 
ligions ?  While  freely  granting  the  wide  gulf  between 
them  and  the  other  faiths  here  treated,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  volume  is  intended  for  prospec- 
tive missionaries  very  largely,  and  that  the  aim  sug- 
gested by  the  title  of  the  book  would  be  disregarded,  if 
we  omitted  Judaism,  for  whose  adherents  over  one 
hundred  societies  are  working,  and  Roman  Catholi- 
cism, in  whose  behalf  some  fourscore  Protestant  mis- 
sionary boards  now  labor.  In  fact,  the  inclusion  of 
Roman  Catholicism  was  decided  upon  only  after 
strong  representations  urging  this  course  by  gentlemen 
officially  responsible  for  the  prosecution  of  work  in 
certain  Papal  countries. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE. 

I.    THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  AFRICAN    ....    ,.:    ...      i 
By  Erwin  H.  Richards,  D.D. 

Bibliography,  2.  I.  The  African  Man,  3—6.  II.  Ele- 
ments of  African  Religion,  6—13.  III.  Weaknesses  of 
African  Religion,  13,  14.  IV.  Strength  of  this  Re- 
ligion, 14,  15.  V.  Approaching  the  Native  with  the 
Teaching  of  Christ,  15—19.  VI.  Preparation  of  the  Mis- 
sionary for  His  Field,  19—21.  VII.  A  Word  as  to  the 
African  Field,  21—23. 

II.    SKINTS,  THE  WAY  OF  THE  GODS 25 

By  J.  H.  De  Forest,  D.D. 

Bibliography,  26.  I.  Shinto  Torii  and  Shrines,  27—29. 
II.  Definition  of  Shinto,  29,  30.  III.  Imperial  Relation- 
ships, 30—32.  IV.  The  Ancestor  Worship  of  Shintoism, 
32,  33.  V.  Hero  Worship,  33,  34.  VI.  Ceremonies  of 
Shinto  Worship,  34.  VII.  Shinto  and  Patriotism,  34— 
36.  VIII.  Shokon  of  Shintoism,  36,  37.  IX.  Shinto- 
ism's  Use  of  Pictures,  37,  38.  X.  Nature  Worship, 
38,  39.  XI.  Consequent  Superstitions,  39,  40.  XII. 
Shinto  and  the  Government,  40-42.  XIII.  New  Sects  of 
Shinto,  42,  43.  XIV.  Shinto  a  Form  of  Pantheism,  43, 
44.  XV.  The  Good  and  Evil  of  Shinto,  44-46.  XVI. 
The  Future  of  Shinto,  46,  47.  XVII.  How  Should  Mis- 
sionaries Approach  Shintoists?  47—49. 

III.  HINDUISM.    By   Rev.    C.   A.   R.   Janvier     ...     51 

Bibliography,  52.  I.  Ancient  Hinduism,  S3— 59-  II. 
Modern  Hinduism,  59-65.  III.  Reform  Movements,  65— 
67.  IV.  The  Strength  and  the  Weakness  of  Hinduism, 
67—71.  V.  How  Best  Approach  the  People  in  Presenting 
the  Truth?  71-74.  VI.  How  shall  Objections  be  Met 
and  Weaknesses  Pointed  out?  74—78.  VII.  How  Follow 
up  the  Work?  78,  79. 

IV.  BUDDHISM  IN   SOUTHERN  ASIA    ......    81 

By  Josiah  Nelson  Gushing,  D.D. 

Bibliography,  82.  I.  Introductory,  83-88.  II.  Life  of 
Gautama,  88-96.  HI.  Doctrine  of  God,  96-98.  IV. 
Buddhism's  Doctrine  of  the  World,  98,  99.  V.  Doc- 
trine of  Man,  99—102.  VI.  Doctrine  of  Sin,  102—107. 
VII.  The  Doctrine  of  Karma,  107—109.  VIII.  Salvation, 

vii 


Vlll  CONTENTS 


109-113.  IX.  Nirvaa,  113,  114.  X.  Buddhist  Ethics, 
114—120.  XI.  Outward  Religious  Forms,  120—123.  XII. 
Sects  of  Southern  Buddhism,  123.  XIII.  Weaknesses  of 
Buddhism,  123-128.  XIV.  Benefits  Conferred  by  Bud- 
dhism, 128,  129.  XV.  The  Missionary's  Attitude  Toward 
Buddhism,  129—131. 

V.    BUDDHISM    IN    JAPAN 133 

By  Rev.  A.  D.  Gring,  M.  A.,  B.  D. 

Bibliography,  134.  I.  Shintoism  Insufficient,  135.  II. 
Korean  Introduction  of  Buddhism,  135—137.  IIT.  Bud- 
dhist Influences  from  China,  137,  138.  IV.  Centuries  of 
Prosperity,  138—140.  V.  Explanation  of  Japan's  Ready  Ac- 
ceptance of  Buddhism,  I4o-:i43/  VI.  The  Buddhism_  of 
Japan,  143—150.  VII.  Organization  of  Japanese  Buddhism, 
150,  151.  Vlir.  Temples  and  the  Devout  Buddhist,  151- 
155.  IX.  Buddhism  Wanting,  155-159. 

VI.    TAOISM.    By  Hampden  C.  Du  Bose,  D.D.    .     .  161 

Bibliography,  162.  I.  Taoism  Historically  Considered, 
163—165.  IF.  Taoism's  Founder,  165,  166.  III.  Taoism's 
Foundations,  166—169.  IV.  Taoism's  Theology,  Pantheon, 
and  Worship,  169—176.  V.  Taoism's  Demonology,  176—181. 

VII.    CONFUCIANISM.    By  Devello  Z.  Sheffield,  D.D.     .  183 

Bibliography,  184.  I.  Introductory,  185-187.  II".  Con- 
fucius and  Later  Chinese  History,  187-192.  III.  Con- 
fucianism as  a  System  of  Worship,  192—208.  FV.  Con- 
fucianism as  a  System  of  Political  and  Social  Ethics, 
208—211. 

VIII.    JUDAISM.    By  Rev.  Louis   Meyer 213 

Bibliography,  214.  I.  Summary  of  Chief  Points  of  Doc- 
trine, 215-218.  II.  The  Popular  Religion  in  Its  Public 
and  Private  Forms,  218-220.  III.  Weaknesses  and  Evils 
of  Judaism,  220—227.  IV.  Strength  of  Judaism,  227—230. 

V.  Best  Methods  of  Missionary  Approach,  230,  231.     VI. 
Objections  Urged  Against  Christianity,  231,  232.     VII.  Es- 
sentials of  Christianity  to  be  Urged,  232,  233.     VIII.  Fol- 
lowing up  Interviews  or  Discussions,  233. 

IX.    MOHAMMEDANISM 235 

By  Samuel   M.  Zwemer,  D.D.,  F.R.G.S. 

Bibliography.  236.  I.  Introductory,  237,  238.  II.  Iman, 
or  what  a  Moslem  Believes,  238-245.  in.  Din,  or  the 
Religion  of  Good  Works,  245-254.  IV.  Strength  of 
Islam,  254—256.  V.  The  Weakness  of  Islam,  256—259. 

VI.  Best   Methods   of   Reaching  Moslems,   259-264. 


CONTENTS  IX 

PAGE 

X.    ROMAN  CATHOLICISM 265 

By  George  B.  Winton,  D.D. 

Bibliography,  266.  I.  Catholicism's  Sacerdotal  System, 
267—271.  II.  Effects  of  Sacerdotalism  upon  the  Priest- 
hood, 271—275.  III.  Evils  Affecting  the  People,  275—278. 
IV.  Catholicism  and  Idolatry,  278—281.  V.  Divorce  Be- 
tween Religion  and  Morality,  281-286.  VI.  Missions  to 
Papal  Lands,  286—290. 

INDEX „ 291 


L    THE    RELIGION    OF   THE   AFRICAN 

BY  ERWIN  H.  RICHARDS,  D.D. 
For  Twenty-four  Years  a  Missionary  to  East  Africa 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BASTIAN,  A.    Der  Fetisch  an  der  Kiiste  Guineas  (1884). 
BENTLEY,  W.  H.     Pioneering  on  the  Congo  (1000).     Ch.  VIII. 
BETTANY,  G.  T.    The  World's  Religions   (1891).     Pp.  43-60. 
ELLIS,  A.  B.     Tshi-speaking  Peoples  of  the  Gold  Coast  (1887). 
ELMSLIE,  W.  A.     Among  the  Wild  Ngoni    (1899).     Ch.   III. 
Encyclopsedias   under  "  Fetishism,"  "  Animism,"  "  Africa." 
FLICKINGER,  D.  K.     Ethiopia,  or  Twenty  Years  of  Missionary 

Life  in  Western  Africa   (1877).     Chs.  XXII I-XX VII. 
[HARRISON,  MRS.  J.  W.]     Mackay  of  Uganda  (1890).     Ch.  V. 
HOTCHKISS,  W.  H.     Sketches  from  the  Dark  Continent  (1901). 

Ch.  VII. 

JACK,  J.   W.    Daybreak  in  Livingstonia   (1900).     Ch.   XV. 
JEVONS,  F.  B.     Introduction  to  the  History  of  Religion  (1902). 

See  index  under  "  Fetishism." 
MCALLISTER,   A.    A   Lone   Woman   in   Africa    (1896).    Chs. 

VI,  VII. 
MACDONALD,    D.    Africana,    the    Heart    of    Heathen    Africa 

(1882). 
MULLER,    F.    M.    Lectures    on    the    Origin    and    Growth    of 

Religion  (1878).    Lect.  II. 

*NASSAU,  R.  H.     Fetichism  in  West  Africa  (1904). 
NOBLE,  F.  P.    The  Redemption  of  Africa  (1899).    Pp.  198-202. 
ORELLI,  C.  VON.    Allgemeine  Religionsgeschichte  (1899).     Ss. 

738-769. 
RATZEL,  F.    The  History  of  Mankind  (1898).     Consult  index 

under  "  Africa  "  and  "  Fetishism,"  and  see  especially  Vol. 

II,  pp.  352-369- 

SCHNEIDER,  W.    Die  Religion  der  afrikanischen  Naturvolker 

(1891). 

*SCHULTZE,  F.    Der  Fetichismus  (1871). 
TYLER,  J.    Forty  Years  Among  the  Zulus   (1891).    Chs.  XI, 

XII. 
TYLOR,   E.   B.     Primitive   Culture    (1891).     See   index   under 

"Fetishism." 
VERNER,   S.    P.    Pioneering   in   Central  Africa    (1903).    Chs. 

XXV,  XL. 
*WILSON,  J.  L.     Western  Africa :  Its  History,  Condition,  and 

Prospects  (1856).     See  especially  Pt.  II,  ch.  XII,  and  Pt. 

III,  ch.  XII. 

*  Indicates  works  of  special  value  or  authority. 

2 


THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  AFRICAN 

I.  The  African  Man.—  i.  He  is  Religious. — It 
would  be  a  most  difficult  task  to  prove  that  the  lowest 
African  was  not  a  man.  Hence  we  assume  that  he  is  a 
man,  even  though  he  finds  his  rating  near  the  foot 
of  the  race.  Having  spent  two  decades  among  this 
low  class  of  the  human  race  and  at  the  same  time  hav- 
ing lived  among  the  highest  types  of  the  animal  king- 
dom, we  believe  it  reasonable  to  affirm  that  this  low 
type  of  man  is  possessed  of  a  religious  nature  as  firm- 
ly imbedded  in  his  breast  as  his  teeth  are  in  his  jaw,  and 
that  it  is  quite  as  noticeable  in  his  routine  life  as  is  the 
nose  on  his  face.  Sudden  and  unaccountable  pheno- 
mena readily  cause  him  to  wonder  whether  other  lives 
are  not  angry  with  him,  or  whether  some  great  Power 
does  not  need  attention.  But  we  have  not  yet  ob- 
served one  of  the  highest  species  of  the  ape  family  so 
startled  by  a  crash  of  thunder,  or  a  rumbling  of  the 
earth,  as  to  set  him  thinking  at  all  seriously  over  his 
departed  grandmother  and  questioning  as  to  whether 
he  ought  not  to  sacrifice  a  peanut  or  two  in  an  effort 
to  get  again  on  good  terms  with  the  departed.  This 
lowest  man  and  this  highest  ape  may  have  the  same 
fear  of  physical  death,  but  after  the  fear  has  passed, 
the  man  manifests  "  works  meet  for  repentance,"  as 
if  he  were  certain  that  there  were  living  powers  over 

3 


4  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

which  he  had  no  control  and  which  he  ought  to  ap- 
pease through  such  little  sacrifices  as  he  is  able  to  offer. 
This  is  an  important  point  to  be  considered ;  for  there 
are  hundreds  and  probably  thousands  of  people,  some 
of  whom  we  have  met  in  America,  some  in  England, 
and  some  in  Africa,  who  hold  that  the  African  has 
no  soul,  and  that  therefore  he  has  no  religious  nature 
and  of  course  no  religion.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of 
converted,  saintly  natives  of  the  Dark  Continent,  scat- 
tered over  its  every  corner,  under  every  church  ban- 
ner, many  of  whom  have  sealed  their  testimony  with 
their  blood,  are  arguments  in  the  flesh  against  such  a. 
proposition. 

2.  Sense  in  Which  the  Term  Religion  is  Used. —  It  is 
well  to  note  what  is  meant  by  religion  in  Africa,  for 
ideas  of  religion  vary  in  different  countries  and  in  the 
mind  of  individuals  in  those  countries.  If  by  religion 
we  mean  knowledge  of  the  Creator,  belief  in  the  writ- 
ten Word  of  God,  and  possession  of  eternal  life 
through  Jesus  Christ,  we  must  admit  that  the  average 
native  has  none  of  it,  nor  is  there  any  trace  of  his  ever 
having  had  it.  If  by  the  term  we  mean  that  he  has 
gorgeously  bedecked  temples,  as  have  the  Japanese  and 
Hindus,  with  definite  forms  or  any  distinct  castes,  like 
the  Hindus,  or  that  the  whole  country,  so  to  speak, 
follows  the  teachings  of  any  one  person,  like  Confu- 
cius in  China,  or  Mohammed  in  Arabia,  then  we  af- 
firm again  that  there  is  none  of  it,  nor  any  trace  of 
the  African's  ever  having  had  it.  But  if  under  the 
term  religion  we  may  include  a  gorgeous  array  of 
purest  superstition,  a  misty  belief  in  transmigration  of 
life,  a  befogged  fear  of  the  mystical  with  inbred  nat- 
ural fear  without  reverence  of  Powers  great  and 


THE   RELIGION   OF  THE   AFRICAN  5 

mighty  beyond  the  ken  of  man,  then  the  African  may 
be  said  to  have  a  religion.  Whenever  his  religion  is 
spoken  of,  it  should  be  recognized  only  as  of  this 
lowest  type,  faithless,  hopeless,  loveless,  in  this  world 
and  with  no  expectation  of  imperishable  life  in  the 
world  to  come. 

3.  Fruits  of  the  African's  Religion. —  From  the  crea- 
tion of  the  continent  down  to  the  advent  of  the  white 
man,  the  African  man  has  had  full  sway,  doing  what- 
ever his  ambitions  suggested,  so  far  as  his  own  nearest 
neighbors  would  allow.     During  the  same  period  other 
continents  have  become  civilized  and  have  made  prodi- 
gious progress  in  the  science  of  living,  and  those  pos- 
sessing the  Word  of  God  have  so  outstripped  all  others 
that  it  may  well  be  said  that  there  are  no  seconds  to 
them.     During  all  these  centuries  it  appears  that  the 
African  has  been   steadily   progressing,  but  only   in 
such  directions  as  tend  to  unfit  him  for  human  brother- 
hood and  to  render  him  more  malignantly  ferocious 
than  the  beasts  of  the  field,  who  often  overpower  him 
and  drive  him  from  their  haunts.     Early  missionaries 
and  explorers  are  a  unit  in  declaring  that  he  is  un- 
commonly inhuman,  bloodthirsty,  and  drunken,   fre- 
quently selling  his  wife  for  cash,  and  universally  slay- 
ing his  captives  in  war,  while  many  tribes  deliberately 
feast  on  the  same.     In  later  years,  after  the  advent  of 
the  Arab,  captives  were  diligently  sought  for  the  slave- 
markets  of  the  world. 

4.  Changes. —  The  white  man  with  a  Bible  under 
his  arm,  with  a  Bible-loving  ruler  supporting  him,  has 
so  curbed  this  wild  inhuman  African  that  over  nearly 
the  whole  expanse  of  the  vast  continent  the  original 
native  is  no  longer  able  to  murder  at  will,  and  tribal 


6  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

wars  are  mostly  abolished  and  slavery  practically  an- 
nihilated. To  be  sure  wine  came  to  some  extent,  and 
rum  came, —  they  were  here  before  also, —  but  the 
Bible  likewise  came  till  vaster  regions  by  far  are  ruled 
by  the  white  man's  Bible  than  by  his  rum.  This  orig- 
inal man-stealing,  head-splitting,  sensuous  African  is 
fast  giving  way  to  the  semi-civilized  men  and  the 
Christians  who  are  rapidly  filling  his  place.  What 
sort  of  religion  could  have  come  to  his  knowledge  that 
should  have  wrought  such  fruits  as  these! 

II.  Elements  of  African  Religion.— I.  Lacks  Knowl- 
edge of  the  Creator. —  There  is  no  name  for  Him. 
The  African  has  been  acquainted  with  Islam  in  the 
North  and  East  for  more  than  400  years,  and  he  has 
known  Christianity  for  over  a  hundred  years  in  the 
South.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  idea  of 
a  Supreme  Being  should  have  become  known  exten- 
sively over  the  continent  from  the  passing  of  innu- 
merable caravans  of  the  Arabs  and  from  the  many 
visitations  of  white  men  throughout  the  southern  por- 
tion. But  after  repeatedly  searching  in  vain  for  a 
purely  native  term  for  the  Deity,  or  even  for  some  term 
for  a  power  greater  than  man's,  we  doubt  very  much 
if  there  can  be  found  any  term  which  will  apply  inter- 
tribally  to  anything  like  such  an  extent  as  the  common 
words  for  father,  mother,  meat,  chicken,  and  some 
others.  The  prolonged  efforts  of  most  missionaries 
to  discover  such  a  word  is  manifest  in  their  revisions 
of  translations.  Some  of  the  Zulu  missionaries  first 
used  "  uDio,"  others  "  uTixo,"  and  later  they  changed 
to  "  nKulunkulu,"  "  The  Great  Great."  In  other  tribes 
south  of  the  equator  appear  similar  efforts  to  discover 
something  which  apparently  does  not  exist  Hence 


THE  RELIGION   OF  THE  AFRICAN  7 

we  may  affirm  that  at  least  in  large  sections  of  the 
continent  the  natives  have  no  name  for  the  Supreme 
Being, —  certainly  none  for  the  God  of  the  Bible. 

2.  There  is  No   Knowledge  of  His  Attributes. — 
Many  will  doubtless  affirm  that  if  he  has  not  the  name 
for  Deity,  the  African  possesses  the  idea,  even  though 
he  is  unable  to  express  it  in  words.     It  should  be  re- 
membered, however,  that  his  language  is  abundantly 
adequate  for  expressing  whatever  he  will ;  and  fur- 
thermore, he  has  endless  varieties  of  gesture,  so  that 
it  would  be  hardly  possible  to  misunderstand  any  idea 
of  the  Creator  that  he  may  have  had.     But  even  if  he 
possessed  the  idea  without  the  name,  it  would  advance 
him  but  little ;  for  it  is  universally  admitted  that  all  of 
the  native  names  yet  discovered  fail  utterly  to  express 
His  attributes.     His  own  god  may  be  feared  with  a 
fear  sufficient  to  suit  the  sternest  Calvinist,  but  he  is 
no  more  lovable  than  death  and  no  more  to  be  desired 
than  an  earthquake.     In  respect  to  his  attributes,  he 
is  hardly   equal  to  the  usual  pagan   deities.     He  is 
rigidly  out  of  mind  unless   something  happens.     A 
native  lying  at  the  point  of  death  sent  to  the  writer 
to  have  him  come  and  "  pray  away  "  the  Great-Great 
who  was  sitting  on  his  breast  so  that  he  could  get  no 
breath.     With  this  brief  glance  at  the  negative  elements 
in  the  African's  religion,  let  us  turn  to  what  he  affirms 
that  he  possesses. 

3.  The  Witch  Doctor. —  Medicine,  naturally  obscure 
to  the  learned,  a  thousand  times  more  so  to  the  un- 
learned and  ignorant,  figures  so  prominently  in  the 
native  mind,  that  the  witch  doctor  has  become  the 
connecting  link  between  the  known  and  the  great  un- 
known.    He  is  said  to  be  able  to  work  wonders,  either 


8  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

by  means  of  his  visible  "  medicines,"  or  by  his  con- 
nivance with  "  departed  lives."  In  personal  appear- 
ance he  out-Herods  hideousness  itself,  and  herein  con- 
sists much  of  his  power  over  the  susceptible  native. 
His  word  is  supreme ;  and  if  it  is  not  instantly  obeyed, 
he  may  report  the  offender  to  the  next  higher  order 
of  tormentors,  and  this  one  to  the  next  above,  and  so 
on  until  misery  is  bound  to  ensue.  He  works  by 
means  of  fear,  and  avarice  is  his  chief  incentive.  He 
is  undesirable  to  natives  in  every  way,  and  they  are 
greatly  afraid  of  him.  He  is  supposed  to  have  direct 
communication  with  the  following  class  of  beings. 

4.  The  Mandiki. —  This  term  is  common  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Inhambane,  and  because  it  is  as  good  as  any 
similar  term  among  other  tribes,  we  make  use  of  it. 
The  system  of  "  powers  "  which  it  represents  is  com- 
mon over  much,  if  not  all,  of  the  continent.  Exactly 
what  they  are,  or  where  they  are,  or  what  they  do 
while  "  off  duty,"  is  as  little  clear  as  is  any  other 
essential  to  superstition.  They  appear  to  have  their 
habitation  somewhere  in  the  realm  of  "  departed  lives," 
and  they  partake  largely  of  the  nature  of  a  last  century 
ghost.  If  a  person  has  fits,  becomes  insane,  or  faints, 
he  is  said  to  be  possessed  by  the  Mandiki.  So  if  one 
is  drowned  he  is  said  to  have  been  allured  into  the 
water  by  the  Mandiki.  Accidental  death  is  accounted 
for  in  the  same  manner.  If  a  person  is  sick,  he  may, 
by  calling  the  witch  doctor,  be  able  to  either  appease 
or  scare  away  the  Mandiki,  when  he  will  recover.  If 
he  does  not  recover,  the  fee  paid  his  physician  could 
not  have  been  sufficient.  People  possessed  by  the 
Mandiki  are  said  to  perform  wonders.  They  have 
been  known  to  eat  live  coals  of  fire  with  relish.  The 


THE    RELIGION    OF   THE   AFRICAN  9 

writer  has  seen  a  lady  of  the  bush  dance  over  a  bed 
of  live  coals.  They  will  often  speak  correctly  the 
language  of  some  far-away  tribe,  of  whose  tongue 
they  have  never  spoken  or  heard  so  much  as  a  word. 
These  and  other  marvelous  achievements  the  Mandiki 
are  wont  to  assist  people  to  perform.  Still  they  are 
not  vicious  or  harmful,  unless  sent  by  the  class  named 
in  the  next  paragraph,  when  they  appear  to  be  obliged 
to  carry  out  their  orders,  the  fulfilling  of  which  they 
immensely  enjoy.  Almost  every  sort  of  sickness  is 
attributed  to  them,  as  well  as  many  of  the  common 
ills  of  life.  They  are  always  unwelcome  visitors. 

5.  The  Jindoyi. —  This  is  a  less  definite  class  of 
beings  than  the  Mandiki,  and  they  are  unique  in  con- 
ception and  authority.  They  may  assume  the  human 
or  ghostly  form  as  occasion  requires.  They  often  ap- 
pear in  the  shape  of  wild  beasts  and  even  of  birds. 
They  have  control  of  "  the  departed  lives  "  and  can 
enter  them  and  return  to  human  form  at  will.  Should 
one  chance  accidentally  to  see  one  of  the  Jindoyi,  he 
would  immediately  fall  down  dead.  This  accounts  in 
a  satisfactory  manner  for  heart-failure,  apoplexy,  and 
the  like.  They  are  not  accredited  with  the  giving  of 
life;  but  whenever  they  will,  they  can  remove  life 
from  those  living,  or  they  may  change  the  relations 
of  "  departed  lives."  These  Jindoyi  are  influenced  by 
most  mercenary  motives  as  well  as  by  anger,  but 
never  by  love.  They  arrange  the  daily  routine  for 
every  beast  and  bird,  but  only  incidentally  for  man. 
They  can  send  beasts  to  destroy  by  night  or  by  day, 
but  never  to  restore.  A  man  may  through  his  witch 
doctor  and  his  Mandiki  make  some  satisfactory  ar- 
rangement with  the  Jindoyi,  so  that  his  enemy's  crops 


IO  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

will  all  be  eaten  by  the  locusts,  or  rains  will  fall  every- 
where save  on  his  garden,  or  the  enemy  himself  may 
be  quickly  removed  to  the  realms  of  the  "  departed 
lives."  The  Jindoyi  are  also  in  turn  finally  overcome 
by  other  more  powerful  beings  mentioned  below.  The 
Jindoyi  are  also  unwelcome  visitors  and  are  greatly 
dreaded. 

6.  The  Jingulube. —  (a)  Relation  to  Preceding.— 
None  of  the  preceding  beings  or  powers  are  wor- 
shipped. None  of  them  are  spoken  of  in  the  singular 
number,  but  always  in  the  plural.  Jingulube  is  also  a 
plural  term,  but  it  has  evidently  a  singular  form  and 
a  singular  meaning.  It  is  the  first  approach  to  a  per- 
sonality. This  class  is  more  powerful  than  all  the 
preceding  combined,  in  that  it  has  the  ordering  of  all 
the  others.  Without  doubt  there  is  a  very  hazy  dis- 
tinction between  this  and  the  preceding  class  in  the 
minds  of  most  natives,  but  the  more  intelligent  will 
distinguish  clearly  between  them.  This  class  is  also 
approached  without  the  aid  of  the  witch  doctor.  Gen- 
eral famine,  general  distress,  wars,  and  unforeseeable 
calamity  are  all  the  direct  result  of  the  planning  of 
the  Jingulube.  There  is  here  a  strong  suggestion  of 
superior  beings  and  possibly  of  a  Supreme  Being. 
Still,  from  the  fact  that  there  are  a  host  of  Jingulube 
with  no  hint  that  they  have  any  head  or  prime  com- 
mander, and  further,  because  different  people,  or  the 
same  people  at  different  times  or  for  different  pur- 
poses, are  wont  to  call  upon  a  plural  company  of 
them,  it  proves  quite  conclusively  that  while  they  have 
superior  "  powers,"  there  is  no  known  Supreme 
Power.  Their  "  unknowable  "  is  in  the  plural. 

(b)   Worship. —  They  are  worshipped  by  the  gen- 


THE  RELIGION   OF   THE  AFRICAN  II 

eral  tribe  collectively,  by  sections  of  a  tribe,  by  fam- 
ilies, and  by  the  individual.  The  form  of  worship 
is  the  same  whether  performed  by  the  many  or  the 
unit.  It  consists  of  an  offering,  always  of  food,  and- 
in  the  selection  of  a  spot  for  performing  the  offering. 
These  "  altars  to  the  Unknown  "  are  scattered  all  over 
the  country,  tribes,  families,  and  individuals  each  hav- 
ing their  own  particular  "  altar."  The  offering  may 
be  of  any  sort  of  edible.  Commonly  it  is  a  handful  of 
mush,  but  if  the  evil  to  be  removed  is  dire,  then  a 
meat  offering  is  considered  more  to  the  point.  Blood 
is  not  unusually  offered.  The  "  altar,"  if  for  a  tribe, 
is  some  well  known  large  tree,  or  other  recognizable 
spot.  For  the  individual,  some  little  stump  or  mound 
of  earth,  usually  near  a  path,  is  sought  for.  There 
is  no  real  "  altar,"  however,  nor  is  there  paraphernalia 
of  any  sort.  The  kind  of  offering  and  the  place  for 
offering  it  signify  very  little.  When  the  tribe  offers 
they  gather  about  the  accustomed  place,  having 
brought  the  offering  with  them.  The  chief  head- 
man, or  some  chosen  one,  arises  and  "  prays ;"  that  is, 
he  tells  the  Jingulube  why  they  offer,  how  they  are 
distressed,  and  begs  the  power  to  remove  the  distress. 
He  also  states  that  they  have  brought  their  food  and 
bestow  the  same  upon  him.  He  then  lays  the  food 
at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  or  on  the  grass  or  ground  as 
it  may  happen,  and  then  tells  the  children  first  of  all 
to  arise  and  eat  what  has  been  dedicated  to  the 
"  power."  This  they  hasten  to  do,  often  assisted  by 
their  elders.  So  far  as  known,  this  constitutes  the 
form  of  worship  for  these  parts.  For  the  individual 
the  form  is  the  same,  only  the  food  may  be  eaten  by 
the  individual  or  left  for  the  beasts  of  the  field;  the 


12  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

request  is  made  and  the  food  offered,  which  is  the 
worship  intended.  This  individual  worship  is  very 
common  all  over  the  land,  but  only  in  times  of  dis- 
tress. Whatever  of  worship  appears  is  in  the  way  of 
appeasing  the  "  power  "  with  a  gift,  under  the  impres- 
sion that  it  is  angry  with  the  devotee.  So  long  as 
there  is  no  distress,  no  evil  to  be  averted  or  other  ill 
to  befall,  there  is  no  offering.  These  highest  powers, 
like  the  foregoing,  are  never  welcome.  They  are  to 
be  avoided  as  far  as  possible.  The  African  is  doubt- 
less as  religious  as  any  of  the  nations  who  are  "  with- 
out God  in  the  world,"  and  we  are  inclined  to  think 
him  above  most  of  them  in  that  he  has  neither  idol 
nor  temple  and  affords  less  resistance  to  the  Kingdom 
of  God  than  any  of  them. 

7.  Superstitions. —  There  must  be  added  to  this  list 
of  "  powers"  a  large  number  of  items  pertaining  to 
superstition  pure  and  simple.  These  differ  greatly  all 
over  the  land,  but  they  have  such  a  hold  upon  the  peo- 
ple that  it  is  quite  as  difficult  to  rid  them  of  their  su- 
perstitions as  of  their  beliefs.  They  hardly  come  un- 
der the  class  of  religious  belief,  however,  as  they  are 
mostly  tribal,  and  consist  of  lacerations  of  the  flesh 
till  some  are  nearly  flayed,  circumcision,  doubtless 
taught  them  by  the  Arab,  and  the  wearing  of  various 
"  charms,"  human,  inhuman,  and  beastly,  all  supposed 
to  be  efficacious  against  disease  and  other  enemies. 
The  individual  also  has  his  own  individual  charms  in 
which  he  is  supposed  to  put  considerable  faith,  but 
only  the  most  ignorant  place  much  confidence  in  these. 
Charms,  tattooing,  and  other  "  medicines  "  are  doubt- 
less more  in  the  line  of  fashion  than  of  faith.  Custom 
has  much  to  do  with  these  faiths  and  practices.  Many 


THE   RELIGION    OF   THE   AFRICAN  13 

doubtless  conform  to  public  opinion  without  a 
thought  as  to  whether  it  avails  aught,  quite  the  same 
as  if  they  were  in  happier  lands.  The  African  is  not 
a  philosopher,  and  of  the  uncanny  things  of  life,  such 
as  trouble  and  death,  he  thinks  the  least  possible. 
What  he  can  comprehend  without  revelation  through 
the  Word  fails  to  account  for  the  sudden  and  inscruta- 
ble things  of  life.  The  superstition  which  he  cannot 
understand  may  perchance  contain  the  solution  of  the 
problem ;  hence  the  more  indefinite  or  even  ridiculous 
the  deception  may  be,  the  more  he  sees  a  possibility 
of  the  incomprehensible.  He  seems  satisfied  with  his 
superstition,  and  that  he  cannot  understand  it  is  no 
fault  of  the  system.  If  he  cannot  explain  it,  he  firmly 
believes  that  there  are  others  who  can.  While  his  stu- 
pidity is  immeasurable  and  painful  for  us  to  contem- 
plate, our  failure  to  see  things  as  he  sees  them  appears 
equally  stupid  to  him.  But  when  God's  Word  is 
brought  to  him  and  he  perceives  the  reasonableness  of 
it,  then  superstition  must  go  to  return  no  more. 

III.  Weaknesses  of  African  Religion. —  The 
weakness  of  this  religion  compared  with  that  of  revela- 
tion is  apparent  at  every  point.  It  fails  utterly  to 
explain  either  the  origin  or  the  destiny  of  man.  It 
omits  every  mention  of  sin  and  has  nothing  of  for- 
giveness for  transgressions.  In  most  of  the  Bantu 
dialects  there  is  no  word  for  sin.  There  is  no  hint 
of  a  Creator  as  such,  and  there  is  no  name  for  "  the 
greatest  thing  in  the  world."  The  term  for  love,  most 
strange  to  state,  does  not  occur  in  many  of  these 
languages.  One  "  loves  "  his  breakfast  with  the  same 
word  with  which  he  "  loves  "  his  wife.  A  sort  of 
want  is  all  that  he  has  to  express  this  most 


14  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

precious  of  all  terms.  His  religion  leaves  man  as  it 
finds  him.  He  is  born  by  nature  and  not  by  the  will 
of  the  Creator.  When  his  end  comes,  nature  again 
puts  him  aside.  Many  tribes,  if  not  all  of  them,  be- 
lieve more  or  less  in  transmigration  of  souls,  but  that 
transmigrated  soul  does  not  exist  after  the  death  of  its 
immediate  living  successor.  The  ghost  of  a  father  may 
annoy  a  son,  but  the  grandfather's  does  not.  A  book 
could  be  written  made  up  of  interesting  details  and 
illustrations  of  the  points  in  his  religion  which  are 
merely  hinted  at  in  this  chapter;  but  were  they  given 
they  would  fail  altogether  to  prove  that  the  religion 
of  the  African,  as  compared  with  that  of  revelation, 
is  possessed  of  any  knowledge  of  the  Creator  and  of 
His  plan  for  eternal  life  to  all  who  may  find  Him. 
There  is  no  continuance  of  joy  for  those  who  rejoice, 
nor  is  there  any  hope  for  those  who  mourn.  His  only 
inheritance  is  hopeless  darkness. 

IV.  Strength  of  this  Religion. —  i.  Worship. —  It 
may  appear  useless  to  look  for  strength  in  a  religion 
like  that  of  the  African,  but  it  has  one  relatively 
strong  point.  It  is  not  his  superstition  nor  the  forms 
above  mentioned,  all  of  which  exclude  worship.  It  is 
the  fact  that  as  a  nation,  as  a  tribe,  and  as  an  indi- 
vidual, there  is  the  worship  of  something,  even  if  very 
indefinite,  which  shows  precisely  what  we  wish  to  find 
in  him ;  that  is,  he  has  a  human  soul  that  gropes  about 
in  the  dark,  seeking  for  satisfaction  and  for  that  light 
which  come  to  all  men  only  through  a  divine  revela- 
tion, which  for  some  reason  has  not  yet  been  made 
known  to  him.  That  he  worships  at  all  proves  that 
he  is  neither  an  ape  nor  an  ass,  but  that  he  is  a  man, 
made  in  the  image  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  has  a  right 


THE  RELIGION   OF   THE  AFRICAN  1$ 

to  know  the  possibilities  and  destiny  of  man.  The 
fact  that  he  worships  what  is  to  him  in  his  lack  of 
knowledge  the  unknown  and  the  undiscoverable  sug- 
gests a  strong  probability  that  he  would  worship  the 
true  and  only  wise  God  if  He  were  made  known  to 
him.  Over  half  a  million  converted  natives  on  the 
continent  of  Africa  prove  by  faithful  Christian  living 
that  this  probability  is  also  a  certainty.  Hence  the 
reasonableness  of  the  welcome  command,  "  Go  ye 
.  .  .  make  disciples  of  all  nations.  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

2.  A  Religious  Nature. —  Not  only  has  the  African 
a  capacity  for  comprehending  religion,  but  he  also  has 
a  religious  nature  that  is  in  a  state  of  active  starvation, 
striving  to  subsist  on  superstition  instead  of  upon  re- 
ligion of  the  Cross  of  Christ,  which  he  was  intended 
to  live  upon.  This  capacity  for  better  things  and  his 
religious  nature  constitute  for  him  what  we  may  term 
his  religion.  He  has  no  other  worthy  of  the  name. 

V.  Approaching  the  Native  with  the  Teaching  of 
Christ. —  I.  The  Point  of  View. —  The  African  baby 
is  the  most  un-spanked  of  all  babies  of  the  race.  The 
African  boy  or  girl  from  the  age  of  five  to  fifteen  is 
the  least  corrected  of  all  who  live  upon  the  earth  and 
the  most  unreasonably  corrected  whenever  the  at- 
tempt at  discipline  is  made.  The  young  man  and 
young  lady  of  Africa  are  altogether  egotistic,  haughty, 
and  quite  sure  that  they  are  incomparably  the  greatest 
thing  in  black, —  and  there  is  no  other  color  to  be 
compared  with  black.  From  this  age  onward  they 
only  become  more  doggedly  perverse  in  their  own  con- 
ceit until  they  are  certain  that  they  are  the  only  ones 
with  whom  wisdom  is  associated  and  that  all  others, 


1 6  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

of  whatever  color  or  nationality,  are  as  nothing.  The 
lady  fresh  from  London  or  New  York  who  chances 
to  visit  some  internal  community  may  marvel  at  their 
lack  of  clothing,  their  dirt,  and  their  opaque  ignorance. 
But  the  native  will  marvel  back  again  quite  as  as- 
suredly at  her  unheard  of  costume,  her  feebleness,  and 
her  useless  daintiness.  The  one  is  quite  as  sincere 
and  in  earnest  as  is  the  other,  nor  will  the  one  be  able 
suddenly  to  modify  the  other  to  any  great  extent.  Civ- 
ilized ladies  may  lift  their  skirts  and  walk  out  of  the 
vicinity  declaring  the  lady  in  black  to  be  incompetent 
and  untameable;  but  the  lady  in  black  will  at  the 
same  time  hold  reciprocal  opinions  concerning  the  de- 
parting friends,  wondering  the  while  at  their  immense 
helplessness.  The  native  holds  nothing  more  firmly 
than  his  superstition,  but  that  he  holds. 

2.  The  Unprofitable  Method. —  When  the  new  mis- 
sionary arrives,  fresh  from  the  schools  with  his  com- 
plete and  newest  harness  all  on,  he  naturally  sup- 
poses that  he  possesses  the  best  that  the  world  affords 
and  that  there  is  no  other  land  but  his,  be  it  America 
or  Europe.  But  the  average  native  has  all  there  is  in 
his  own  land,  and  to  him  there  is  no  other.  Each 
will  most  naturally  proceed  to  discount  the  other,  and 
each  will  equally  ignore  all  previous  advantages  and 
conditions  of  the  other.  Each  will  naturally  despise 
the  knowledge  of  the  other.  Each  will  as  surely  mis- 
understand previous  as  well  as  present  conditions  of  the 
other.  The  raw  recruit  oftentimes  fights  terrifically 
with  the  first  symptom  that  greets  his  scrutinizing  eye ; 
it  may  perchance  be  a  pinch  of  snuff,  or  a  less  harm- 
less string  of  glass  beads,  over  which  he  will  make 
direst  lamentation,  if  the  rtjative  does  not  immediately 


THE    RELIGION    OF   THE   AFRICAN  I/ 

agree  with  him  and  desist  from  further  use  forever. 
The  native  has  used  these  items  for  years  and  his 
nation  for  ages  with  no  perceptible  harm  to  any  one, 
and  he  quite  righteously  concludes  that  the  recruit 
is  really  raw.  Or  he  may  at  the  first  blush  tackle 
polygamy,  or  the  selling  of  daughters,  and  manifest 
marvelous  symptoms  of  madness  over  matters  which 
he  will  comprehend  far  more  rationally  ten  years  later 
—  if  he  remains  on  the  field  so  long.  He  does  not 
seriously  disturb  the  native,  nor  does  he  furnish  him 
oftentimes  any  new  information  on  the  subject.  But 
he  does  lose  much  moral  force  in  combating  and  tear- 
ing down,  or  trying  to  do  the  same,  in  the  place  of 
searching  out  points  of  common  agreement  and  build- 
ing up  from  these.  The  best  way  not  to  do  it  is  to  be- 
gin combating  everything  in  sight.  The  native  cannot 
be  made  to  accept  new  ideas  until  he  is  convinced  of 
the  reasonableness  of  them ;  neither  can  the  missionary. 
The  new  missionary  ought  not  to  argue  at  all  seri- 
ously until  he  can  speak  the  language  intelligently. 
Mendelssohn  wrote  music  without  words  successfully, 
for  he  understood  music;  but  a  missionary  cannot 
speak  words  without  sense,  in  an  African  dialect  at 
least,  to  any  great  profit,  though  many  new-comers 
try  it. 

3.  A  More  Excellent  Way. —  Without  controversy 
it  is  true  that  a  person  cannot  teach  unless,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  subject-matter  and  his  qualifications,  he  has 
the  confidence  of  his  pupil.  He  will  teach  all  the  more 
efficiently,  if  he  also  knows  his  pupil  as  well  as  be 
known  of  him.  Hence  with  these  most  ignorant  peoples 
how  important  it  becomes  that  the  teacher  should  know 
his  pupil.  So  far  as  possible  he  should  enter  into  the 


18  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

heart  of  the  pupil  and  feel  as  he  feels ;  he  should  enter 
into  his  brain  and  see  as  he  sees.  He  should  study  to 
comprehend  the  idea  of  the  native  and  to  look 
through  his  very  eyes.  In  this  manner  only 
will  he  become  reasonably  prepared  to  teach  ef- 
fectively. Sympathy  with  the  native  as  a  lost 
man  who  may  be  redeemed  is  most  helpful.  A  native 
will  know  quite  well  within  four  paces  of  a  person 
whether  that  person  is  afraid  of  black  people  or  dis- 
dains them.  One  cannot  teach  a  native  at  all  well 
by  holding  his  nose  with  one  hand  and  proffering 
the  Gospel  with  the  other.  With  such  a  knowledge 
of  his  pupil,  with  such  a  sympathy  for  him,  and  with 
such  a  Gospel  it  will  be  indeed  a  very  lost  specimen 
of  humanity  upon  whom  the  missionary  cannot  make 
important  impressions  for  good,  perhaps  for  everlast- 
ing good.  Still  with  all  these  preparations  in  the  way 
of  teaching,  the  real  teaching  is  only  half  done  at  this 
point. 

4.  The  Greater  Part  of  Teaching  is  Living. —  "  By 
their  fruits  shall  ye  know  them."  Let  the  teaching 
be  all  that  it  may,  the  living  is  equal  to  it;  and  very 
often  it  is  greatly  superior  to  it  in  its  effects  on  the 
general  community.  The  missionary  of  all  men  is  a 
living  epistle,  known  and  read  of  all  men.  He  may 
never  teach  a  man  to  read  a  book,  but  he  will  assuredly 
teach  him  to  read  himself,  and  he  is  therefore  greater 
than  many  books,  for  vast  multitudes  will  read  him. 
Many  a  saintly  man  lives  Christianity  into  the  natives 
round  about  him  who  is  otherwise  poorly  equipped 
for  teaching  them.  Language  is  very  useful  when 
one  is  permitted  the  gift ;  but  the  living  of  Christianity 
is  also  most  effective,  and  all  can  live  it.  Holy  teach- 


THE  RELIGION   OF   THE  AFRICAN  IQ 

ing  is  excellent,  but  coupled  with  holy  living  it  is 
doubly  effective.  The  preaching  teaches  in  its  way, 
but  the  living  teaches  in  a  more  indisputable  manner. 
Precept  is  good,  but  practice  is  better.  Without  doubt 
more  pure  religion  is  transferred  into  the  life  of  the 
native  through  the  living  of  his  missionary  than 
through  his  teaching.  Quite  as  surely  much  excellent 
intention  is  equally  spoiled  by  the  inconsistent  doing 
of  the  missionary.  All  missionaries  are  mortal ;  some 
are  especially  so. 

VI.  Preparation  of  the  Missionary  for  His  Field. — 
i.  Preparation  and  Its  Lack. —  To  be  most  effective 
in  his  presentation  of  the  Gospel  the  missionary  must 
be  well  prepared  for  his  work.  From  what  has  oc- 
curred within  our  own  knowledge  it  seems  imperative 
to  state  some  of  the  facts  in  order  to  deter  as  far  as 
possible  the  inefficient  from  trying  to  enter  the  work. 
Some  years  since  there  had  been  over  forty  non-col- 
lege-bred missionaries  on  the  field.  Positively  they 
were  sound  in  the  faith  with  the  best  of  intentions  and 
most  of  them  were  hard  workers.  They  were  full 
of  enthusiasm  and  were  ready  for  their  sort  of  stake 
at  any  time.  They  were  of  several  denominations,  our 
own  included.  Negatively  they  had  little  or  no  edu- 
cation, believed  that  they  alone  were  right  and  that 
every  one  else  was  awry.  They  had  not  attained  suc- 
cess in  any  work  at  home  for  the  most  part,  and  those 
who  had  remained  longest  with  us.  They  cost  just 
as  much  as  any  missionaries  for  traveling  expenses 
and  for  their  living  on  the  field ;  and  because  they  most- 
ly disappeared  as  suddenly  as  they  came  and  left  no 
work  accomplished  on  the  field,  they  cost  relatively 
ten  times  the  amount  of  money  necessary  for  the  ef- 


2O  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

fective  missionary.  Not  one  of  them  ever  translated 
a  Gospel,  not  one  ever  wrote  any  text-books,  though 
they  purchased  of  those  who  were  able  to  make  them. 
More  than  one-half  of  them  disappeared  from  the 
field  during  the  first  six  months,  and  of  the  whole 
number  only  two  remained  longer  than  two  years. 
During  the  same  period  covering  over  twenty  years 
there  have  been  nearly  half  as  many  college-bred  and 
seminary-trained  men  and  women  on  the  field.  Of 
six  who  came  out  in  1880  all  are  alive  and  on  the 
field  save  one  who  died  after  thirteen  years  of  active 
service.  A  second  six  who  came  a  year  later  are  to- 
day all  of  them  with  us.  Others  of  this  class  came 
later,  but  none  of  them  have  retired  from  the  field  save 
one  couple  who  went  because  of  a  total  change  of 
base  requiring  new  language,  which  they  thought  it 
unwise  to  undertake  at  their  age.  Not  one  of  the 
others  has  died  in  twenty  years.  They  are  all  active 
to-day.  They  are  all  on  the  picket  line,  far  out  in  the 
midst  of  native  populations.  They  have  had  few  of 
the  comforts  of  life,  but  they  have  reduced  languages 
to  writing  and  printed  the  Gospel  in  them.  They 
have  written  and  published  hymnbooks,  text-books, 
and  papers  in  these  native  languages.  They  return 
to  the  home-land  for  health  reasons  very  rarely.  They 
cost  the  Church  the  least  money  and  accomplish  the 
only  permanent  results.  Surely  in  such  a  field  as  this 
a  candidate  should  consider  himself  uncalled  unless  he 
is  willing  to  go  through  the  preparation  which  renders 
one  effective  on  the  field. 

2.  College  Training. —  It  is  not  at  all  that  college 
training  imparts  so  much  mere  knowledge;  but  the 
fact  is  that  a  student  who  will  stick  to  a  Greek  root 


THE   RELIGION   OF  THE  AFRICAN  21 

year  after  year,  when  he  knows  that  there  is  little 
use  in  so  doing,  will  stick  to  his  job  later  on.  It  is  the 
mental  discipline  that  is  essential  to  success.  The 
student  also  learns  in  an  effective  fashion  that  the 
other  man  is  liable  to  have  opinions  as  well  as  him- 
self. The  undisciplined  seldom  make  such  a  discov- 
ery. A  college  may  not  be  the  only  thing  that  will 
give  one  this  mental  discipline,  but  it  is  certainly  the 
best  thing.  These  remarks  pertain  only  to  Portu- 
guese East  Africa;  other  fields  have  not  been  con- 
sidered, but  reason  suggests  that  if  one  is  to  remodel 
a  continent  of  men  he  ought  surely  to  understand 
men. 

VII.  A  Word  as  to  the  African  Field. —  I.  Not  a 
Graveyard. —  Africa  is  not  the  white  man's  grave- 
yard. This  idea  had  its  day  in  the  beginning,  but 
that  beginning  is  ended  so  far  as  the  main  section  of 
the  continent  is  concerned.  Some  portions  of  the  West 
Coast  are  still  regarded  as  unhealthy,  yet  several  have 
resided  there  and  have  done  excellent  work  for 
twenty  years.  In  the  South  we  see  the  finest  of  the 
countries  of  the  earth  with  half  a  million  whites  now 
and  more  coming  every  year.  In  the  Transvaal,  in 
Central  and  in  East  British  Africa,  all  reports  indi- 
cate healthful  conditions  for  the  European.  Uganda 
is  proving  to  be  quite  fit  for  the  white  man's  residence. 
Consumptives  and  invalids  from  all  over  the  world 
come  to  our  shores  for  health  and  find  it.  The  grave- 
yard idea  is  past.  It  is  the  time  of  resurrection  now, 
and  it  will  be  Heaven  as  soon  as  a  hundred  million 
human  beings  who  have  as  yet  never  heard  the  Name 
shall  have  heard  it  intelligently. 

2.  A  Great  Opportunity. —  With  such  a  magnificent 


22  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

country,  with  such  a  magnificent  population,  how  ex- 
ceeding grand  it  is  to  present  to  them  the  magnificence 
of  the  only  Great-One,  who  as  yet  is  unknown  to  them ! 
He  is  with  His  Church  always  even  "  to  the  end  of  the 
world."  He  was  with  His  own  in  Cape  Colony  more 
than  a  hundred  years  ago.  He  was  with  them  in 
Natal  all  through  the  dark  days  of  the  fierce  and 
bloody  Zulu  Chiefs,  and  He  has  given  the  land  and 
the  entire  people  into  their  hands  forever.  He  was 
with  His  missionaries  in  the  Transvaal  and  in  Mata- 
beleland  through  the  dark  and  trying  times  of  Moffat 
and  Livingstone.  He  was  with  them  through  the 
early  days  of  Nyasa  and  of  Tanganyika,  and  especially 
so  in  Uganda,  where  the  blood  o'f  His  martyrs  has 
become  the  seed  of  the  Church.  Yes,  and  more.  All 
of  this  vast  territory  with  all  its  great  population  He 
has  already  placed  under  the  protection  of  the  flag 
of  Great  Britain,  which,  more  than  any  other  flag  on 
earth,  guarantees  peace  to  the  native  and  protection 
to  the  missionary.  It  is  high  time  to  cease  praying 
the  Lord  to  "  open  the  doors  of  Africa,"  for  they  are 
already  open.  Railways  are  built  and  transit  is  cheap 
and  rapid  into  the  heart  of  the  continent.  England 
no  doubt  will  do  her  duty  by  the  African.  Will  not 
America  see  to  it  that  she  performs  her  part  as  well. 
To-day  half  a  million  native  worshippers  sing  the 
songs  of  Zion  with  rejoicing  and  great  joy.  Three 
hundred  other  half-millions  are  waiting  in  darkness 
for  the  same  light  and  life  to  come  to  them.  Is  it 
possible  that  there  can  be  a  greater  joy  granted  to  a 
human  soul  than  is  found  in  writing  for  a  native  in 
his  own  tongue  for  the  first  time  it  was  ever  writ- 
ten, "  Our  Father  which  are  in  heaven"  ?  Is  there 


THE   RELIGION  OF  THE  AFRICAN  23 

any  sweeter  earthly  music  than  "  Rock  of  Ages,  cleft 
for  me,"  "  Nearer  my  God  to  Thee,"  sung  intelligently 
by  half  a  million  human  voices  who  had  never  heard 
it  before?  We  have  listened  to  excellent  choruses 
in  America  and  in  England  and  have  often  heard 
large  congregations  sing,  and  it  was  thrilling.  We 
have  also  been  permitted  through  the  grace  of  God 
to  translate  the  New  Testament  and  to  hear  it  read 
with  the  understanding  in  a  tongue  in  which  it  was 
never  heard  before,  and  we  have  under  the  same 
guiding  hand  been  allowed  to  translate  a  hundred  of 
the  commonest  church  hymns  and  tunes  and  have 
heard  them  sung  by  rousing  audiences  of  those  who 
had  never  heard  a  note  of  praise  in  any  language.  Un- 
til we  join  the  innumerable  chorus  in  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem we  do  not  expect  to  thrill  with  any  pleasure  that 
is  at  all  commensurate  with  this.  In  the  name  of  our 
faith  and  of  our  Father  we  invite  the  members  of 
Student  Volunteers  Bands  and  Young  People's  So- 
cieties to  so  rich  a  continent,  to  so  needy  a  people, 
and  to  so  glorious  a  work. 


II.  SHINTO,  THE  WAY  OF  THE  GODS 

BY  JOHN  H.  DE  FOREST,  D.D. 
For  Thirty-one  Years  a  Missionary  to  Japan 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

ASTON,   W.    G.    A    History   of   Japanese   Literature    (1899). 

Pp.  9-22. 

*BARROWS,   J.    H.,    editor.     The    World's    Parliament   of    Re- 
ligions  (1893).     See  index  under  "  Shintoism."    Japanese 

viewpoint. 
BETTANY,  G.  T.    The  World's  Religions  (1891).     Pp.  167-175. 

Popular. 

BRINKLEY,  F.    Japan  Described  and   Illustrated  by  the  Jap- 
anese (1897).     Especially  Section  One,  chs.  VIII,  IX. 
*CHAMBERLAIN,  B.  H.    In  Transactions  of  the  Asiatic  Society 

of  Japan    (1882).    Vol.    X,    Supplement.     Translation   of 

the  Kojiki. 
CHAMBERLAIN,    B.   H.    Things  Japanese    (1902).     See   under 

"  Shinto." 
CLEMENT,    E.    W.    A    Handbook   of   Modern   Japan    (1903). 

Ch.  XVII. 

COBBOLD,  G.  A.     Religion  in  Japan  (1894).     Ch.  I. 
DIXON,  W.  G.     The  Land  of  the  Morning  (1882).     Ch.  X. 
Encyclopaedias,    especially    "  The    Encyclopedia   of    Missions," 

under  "  Shinto,"  "  Shintoism,"  "  Japan." 
GRIFFIS,  W.  E.    The  Mikado's  Empire  (1898).    Bk.  I,  ch.  X. 

Also  see  index. 
*GRIFFIS,     W.    E.    The     Religions     of    Japan     (1895).     See 

especially  chs.  II,  III. 
GULICK,  S.  L.    Evolution  of  the  Japanese  (1905).     See  index 

under  "  Shinto." 
HEARN,  L.    Japan,  an  Attempt  at  Interpretation  (1904).    Chs. 

Ill,  XVII. 
KNAPP,  A.   M.    Feudal  and  Modern  Japan    (1896).    Vol.  I, 

ch.  VI. 

REIN,  J.    Japan:  Travels  and  Researches  (1884).     Pp.  442-447. 
*SATOW,   E.   M.    In   Transactions  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of 

Japan:     "Revival  of  Pure  Shinto";   "Shinto   Rituals"; 

"The  Shinto  Temples  of Tse." 
*SATOW  AND  HAWES.    Murray's  Handbook  for  Travellers  in 

Central  and  Northern  Japan  (1884).    Pp.  [6i]-[7o].    Brief 

but  authoritative. 
*SAUSSAYE,   P.  D.    CHANTEPIE  DE  LA.    Lehrbuch  der   Relig- 

ionsgeschichte   (1905).     Bd.   I,   Ss.   141-171. 

*  Indicates  works  of  special  value  or  authority. 
26 


II 

SHINTO,  THE  WAY  OF  THE  GODS 

1.  Shinto    Torii    and    Shrines.—  i.  The    Torii. — • 
Among  the  first  things   that  catch   the  attention  of 
a  foreigner  in  Japan  are  the  beautiful  torii  that  are 
seen   in  crowded  cities,   in  farming  regions,   on  the 
edges  of  bays  and  inlets,  in  groves,  and  far  up  the 
mountain-sides,  even  on  Fuji's  peak.     Sometimes  it  is 
a  huge  bronze  or  granite  torii  placed  before  an  avenue 
that  leads  to  the  shrine  or  erected  at  the  foot  of  a 
hundred  or  more  steps  of  stone  at  the  top  of  which  is 
the  shrine.     Its  form  is  remarkably  artistic,  and  the 
ladies  of  the  West  have  not  been  slow  to  adopt  it  in 
jewelry  and  house  decoration. 

The  word  means  "  bird-perch,"  and  such  explana- 
tions as  I  have  heard  refer  to  a  primitive  roost  from 
which  the  fowls  announce  the  morning  at  the  sacred 
shrine.  If  you  enter  an  ordinary  Japanese  house, 
you  will  see  the  tiny  torii  conspicuous  on  the  god- 
shelf  before  the  diminutive  shrine.  Sometimes  as  you 
pass  a  large  torii  in  the  city  you  will  see  its  ridge 
covered  with  stones,  which  passers  by,  who  have  a 
prayer  to  offer  or  who  hope  for  good  luck,  have  suc- 
cessfully tossed  up  there. 

2.  The   Shrine. —  The   word    shrine    is    exclusively 
used  for  Shinto  places  of  worship,  just  as  temple  re- 
fers only  to  those  of  the  Buddhists.     The  shrine  is 

27 


28  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

a  double  structure,  both  portions  of  which  are  very 
small.  The  front  section  is  approached  by  the  wor- 
shipper, who  never  enters,  but  stands  without  and, 
ringing  the  bell  and  reverently  clapping  his  hands, 
performs  his  act  of  worship.  The  smaller  one  in  the 
rear  is  the  holy  of  holies,  where  the  sacred  emblem, 
the  mirror,  is  generally  kept.  None  but  the  god- 
keeper  enters  there.  There  is  no  preaching  and  so  no 
hall  in  which  the  people  assemble.  At  the  festivals 
the  people  gather  in  the  court  or  grove,  where  they 
enjoy  the  flowers,  drink  tea  and  sake,  and  worship 
singly  at  their  convenience.  The  plan  of  this  double 
shrine  is  very  much  like  that  of  the  ancient  temple 
at  Jerusalem,  with  its  court  of  worship  for  the  people 
and  its  sacred  place  into  which  no  one  save  the  high 
priest  could  enter.  The  style  of  architecture  is  primi- 
tive, the  cross-pieces  on  the  roof  showing  the  ancient 
method  of  binding  the  logs  together  long  before  nails 
were  heard  of.  The  wood  is  never  painted,  its  clean 
natural  color  typifying  purity,  which  is  the  central 
religious  idea  of  this  cult.  The  roof  is  never  tiled, 
but  is  either  thatched  or  shingled. 

3.  Three  Divine  Utensils. —  The  only  object  visible 
within  is  a  metal  mirror  on  the  altar,  and  this  repre- 
sents one  of  the  three  original  "  utensils  of  the  gods," 
the  others  being  a  sword  and  a  crystal,  which  are  never 
seen. 

(a).  There  is  much  that  excites  thought  in  the 
choice  of  these  three  divine  emblems.  The  signifi- 
cance of  the  mirror,  so  far  as  the  earliest  tradition 
gives  it,  is  found  in  the  words  of  the  Sun  goddess, 
"  Look  upon  this  mirror  as  my  spirit,  keep  it  in  the 
same  house  and  on  the  same  floor  with  yourself,  and 


SHINTO,   THE  WAY   OF   THE  GODS  2Q 

worship  it  as  though  you  were  worshiping  my  actual 
presence."  The  statement  is  sometimes  heard  that 
the  deity  dwells  in  man.  In  that  case,  the  one  who 
worships  with  pure  heart  before  the  mirror  will  realize 
that  he  sees  a  reflection  of  the  deity. 

(b)  The  sword  was  a  divine  blade,  and  its  use  was 
for   divine   purposes.     As   the   nation   progressed,   it 
became  associated  with  the  highest  type  of  noble  man- 
hood,   reverent    loyalty,    and    righteousness.     "  The 
sword  is  the  soul  of  the  Samurai,"  is  an  old  saying. 
The  great  makers  of  swords  always  solemnly  dedicated 
their  work  to  the  gods  and  made  each  blade  with 
prayer.     They  seemed  to  feel  as  Isaiah's  words  ex- 
press it,  "  My  sword  is  bathed  in  heaven."     Patriotism 
and  religion  are  thus  the  closest  of  allies.     The  sword 
and  righteousness  are  intimately  related. 

(c)  The  crystal  signifies  sincerity  and  purity.     The 
great  prayer  of  Shinto  is,  "  Cleanse  me."     One  of  their 
eminent  priests  has  said,  "  If  Shinto  has  a  dogma,  it 
is  purity." 

Only  one  shrine  in  Japan  is  said  to  contain  these 
three  emblems  in  its  holy  of  holies.  In  all  the  rest  of 
the  58,070  shrines,  either  no  object  is  visible,  or  only 
a  mirror.  It  certainly  is  surprising  to  find  neither 
graven  image  nor  idolatrous  worship  in  pure  Shinto 
shrines. 

II.  Definition  of  Shinto. —  Literally  translated, 
Shinto  means  "  Way  of  the  Gods."  It  is  sometimes 
defined  as  "  a  combination  of  the  worship  of  nature 
and  of  ancestors."  Other  nations  have  been,  and  still 
are,  worshippers  of  nature  and  of  ancestors,  yet  there 
is  something  about  Shinto  that  limits  it  to  Japan.  Dr. 
Griffis  comes  nearer  the  truth  when  he  says,  "  Mikado- 


3O  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

ism  is  the  heart  of  Shinto,"  for  it  is  a  remarkable 
amalgam  of  political  and  religious  forces.  Yet  other 
nations  have  had  their  sun-goddesses  and  deified  em- 
perors and  did  not  have  Shinto.  We  must  add,  there- 
fore, that  natural  spirit  of  the  people  which  makes  the 
products  of  the  Japanese  mind  different  from  those 
of  other  peoples.  The  emperor  worship  of  Japan  is 
different  from,  and  better  than,  that  of  old  Rome. 
Nature  worship  in  an  island  empire  of  volcanic  beauty 
must  be  different  from  that  of  a  people  on  a  continent. 
So  the  mixture  of  the  various  elements  of  pantheism 
here  gives  to  the  "  Way  of  the  Gods  "  characteristics 
only  found  in  Japan. 

What  have  been  the  practical  bearings  of  this  re- 
ligion on  the  evolution  of  the  people?  In  what  ways 
has  it  been  helpful  and  harmful?  Are  its  fruits  ap- 
parent in  modern  Japan?  Has  it  a  future,  or  will  it 
perish  from  off  the  earth?  I  will  try  to  answer  these 
and  similar  questions. 

III.  Imperial  Relationships. —  I.  Relation  to  the 
Imperial  House. —  Shinto  has  very  intimate  historical 
relations  with  the  Throne.  Most  readers  know  that 
the  Imperial  line  in  Japan  is  regarded  as  unbroken 
from  the  beginning.  The  proud  claim  is  that  it 
stretches  across  2,565  years.  There  is  no  other  reign- 
ing line  in  history  that  compares  with  this.  It  was 
the  aim  of  ancient  dynasties  everywhere  to  continue 
their  lines  to  endless  ages,  but  for  one  reason  or  another 
all  failed  except  Japan.  Undoubtedly  Shinto  has  been 
a  most  powerful  aid  in  this  unique  result.  Belief  in 
the  divine  origin  of  the  Imperial  family  and  in  the 
essential  deity  of  the  individual  emperor  could  not  fail 
to  be  a  potent  factor  in  the  perpetuity  of  the  House. 


SHINTO,   THE   WAY   OF   THE   GODS  3! 

Concubinage,  which  all  religions  but  Christianity 
virtually  permit,  the  spirit  of  loyalty  that  became  an 
unusual  political  power,  and  geographical  advantage  of 
a  group  of  fruitful  islands  of  rare  beauty  are  other  ele- 
ments that  conserved  the  line,  but  the  religious  force 
is  the  principal  one.  No  matter  what  disorders  and 
periods  of  anarchy  nor  what  prolonged  wars  of  rival 
daimyos  there  might  be,  the  life  and  person  of  the 
Emperor  were  sacred;  and  the  party  that  had  posses- 
sion of  him  and  that  could  put  the  Imperial  Seal  to 
its  orders  was  the  rightful  party,  while  all  opposers 
were  traitors  worthy  only  of  death. 

In  the  evolution  of  a  tribe  from  barbarism  into 
a  nation,  belief  in  the  divine  descent  of  the  Imperial 
line  is  a  most  potent  factor  making  for  order,  per- 
manence, and  progress.  The  earliest  writings  of  the 
Japanese,  the  Kojiki,  tell  of  the  mythological  age,  the 
period  of  the  Gods,  in  which  Izanagi  and  Izanami 
raised  the  islands  of  Japan  out  of  chaos,  and  when 
Amaterasu,  the  Sun  goddess,  becomes  the  progeni- 
tress of  the  present  line  of  rulers.  This  religious  faith 
is  one  of  the  strongest  forces  that  have  successfully 
carried  Japan  onward  and  upward  through  ignorance 
and  anarchy  and  despotism,  until  it  was  ripe  for  the 
higher  and  wider  social  and  political  life  of  to-day. 
And  this  faith  also  accounts  largely  for  that  quality 
of  loyalty  for  which  the  people  are  noted,  a  reverent 
and  devoted  loyalty  fearless  of  death. 

2.  The  Present  Emperor. —  There  is  a  deep  truth 
in  "  the  divine  right  of  kings."  Men  need  a  master. 
And  a  faith  that  can  help  to  evolve  a  line  of  emperors 
with  absolute  powers,  yet  who  rule  on  the  whole  so 
mildly  and  use  the  sword  so  righteously  as  to  gain  from 


32  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

their  subjects  through  successive  ages  only  deep  rev- 
erence and  passionate  loyalty,  is  something  that  the 
whole  race  may  rejoice  over.  Even  under  the  new 
constitutional  government,  whenever  the  Emperor  has 
interfered, —  and  that  is  of  rare  occurrence, —  it  was 
on  behalf  of  the  people,  rather  than  in  the  interest  of 
his  cabinet  officers.  "  We  have  had  only  one  or  two 
really  bad  emperors,"  said  a  scholarly  official  to  me 
recently.  "  The  present  Emperor  is  one  of  the  ablest 
and  best  of  living  rulers,"  said  our  late  Minister, 
Colonel  A.  E.  Buck.  "  He  is  the  ablest  and  best,"  said 
an  American  missionary  who  recently  had  the  honor 
of  an  audience  with  His  Majesty  and  was  graciously 
decorated  for  his  interest  in  Japanese  youths  studying 
in  the  United  States.  I  once  asked  a  high  official, 
"  How  do  you  intelligent  men  regard  your  Emperor  ?  " 
The  prompt  reply  was,  "  He  is  a  man,  not  a  god." 
That  is,  with  the  new  order  of  things,  the  old  myth  is 
exploded,  but  none  the  less  the  Japanese,  high  and  low 
alike,  are  justly  proud  of  their  Imperial  line,  and  their 
judgment  must  be  taken  as  correct,  "  There  is  not  an- 
other like  it  in  all  history." 

IV.  The  Ancestor  Worship  of  Shintoism. —  i.  Ef- 
fect on  the  Family. —  Ancient  man  almost  everywhere 
worshipped  his  ancestors.  It  is  one  of  the  steps,  a 
beautiful  one,  too,  by  which  he  at  last  rose  to  the 
worship  of  the  One  Great  Ancestor  of  all  men.  An- 
cestor worship  plays  an  important  part  in  Shinto. 
When  we  inquire  in  the  light  of  modern  knowledge 
what  were  the  advantages  of  this  kind  of  religion,  it 
is  plain  for  one  thing  that  it  helped  to  build  up  the 
family  and  greatly  enriched  domestic  life.  It  tended 
to  monogamy,  and  it  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the 


SHINTO,    THE   WAY   OF   THE   GODS  33 

first  couple  mentioned  in  the  mythology  of  Japan  are 
the  deities  Izanagi  and  Izanami,  with  nothing  of  polyg- 
amy or  concubinage.  Later  on  concubinage  was  per- 
mitted under  regulations,  but  polygamy  was  never 
legally  allowed. 

2.  A  Restraining  and  Protective  Force. —  Ancestor 
worship  was  a  strong  restraining  force,  for  riotous 
conduct  on  the  part  of  a  son  might  be  fatal  to  the 
household  interests  and  even  to  the  family  line.  When 
numerous  family  lines  combined,  they  gave  solidity 
to  the  growing  society  and  strength  to  the  ruling  au- 
thority. Even  the  new  civil  codes,  especially  the  sec- 
tion on  The  Family,  show  the  power  for  good  that  in 
a  certain  stage  of  progress  inheres  in  ancestor  wor- 
ship. How  deep  its  hold  is  may  be  seen  from  the 
words  of  a  modern  ancestor  worshipper,  Professor  Y. 
Hozumi,  of  the  Imperial  University,  who  beautifully 
expresses  the  reason  for  this  worship :  "  We  firmly 
believe  that  our  ancestors,  other  than  their  bodies,  do 
not  die.  They  are  immortal.  The  spirits  of  the 
fathers  and  mothers  .who  loved  their  children,  even 
though  their  bodies  have  perished,  still  in  the  other 
world  live  and  watch  over  their  descendants." 

V.  Hero  Worship. —  In  Japan  heroes  take  their 
place  among  the  gods,  and  shrines  are  built  in  their 
honor.  With  the  incoming  of  rationalistic  thought  the 
educated  classes  are  saying :  "  We  honor  our  great 
men  just  as  you  do,  only  you  build  monuments  while 
we  erect  shrines.  You  take  off  your  hat  before  Wash- 
ington's grave,  we  take  off  ours  and  clap  our  hands 
and  burn  incense.  The  forms  are  different,  but  at 
bottom  the  spirit  of  reverence  for  the  great  dead  is 
the  same."  Indeed,  hero  worship,  as  Carlyle  has 


34  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

shown,  is  one  of  the  formative  instincts  of  the  human 
race  and  nothing  will  ever  happen  to  drive  it  out  of 
the  human  heart. 

VI.  Ceremonies  of   Shinto  Worship. —  i.  In  the 
Family. —  In  the  home  this  is  done  by  offerings  of  rice 
and  sake  set  before  the  ancestral  tablets  on  which  are 
inscribed  the  names  of  the  dead.     Lighted  candles,  or 
even  kerosene  lamps,  are  kept  on  the  god-shelf.     Pho- 
tography, too,  is  introduced,  and  the  photographs  of 
the  departed  are  sometimes  seen  instead  of  tablets. 
Death  days  are  commemorated  by  meetings   of  the 
family  who  make  new  offerings  and  partake  of  a  feast 
before  the  tablets.     Graves  are  visited  religiously  and 
are  kept  in  order.     Thus  the  spirit  of  reverence  and 
gratitude  is  fostered. 

2.  At  the  Shrines. —  Here  the  ceremonies  are  more 
elaborate.  It  is  this  ceremonial  worship,  with  its  in- 
cense and  prayer,  as  if  the  recipients  were  divine  be- 
ings, that  the  Protestant  mind  and  heart  find  it  hard 
to  witness.  But  we  may  well  remember  that  the  word 
worship  in  pantheistic  lands  does  not  have  the  deep 
meaning  it  has  in  monotheism.  Even  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  it  has  a  lower  meaning  for  the  saints 
and  a  higher  one  for  God. 

VII.  Shinto   and   Patriotism. —  I.  Before  Japan's 
Opening. —  Loyalty  to  an  emperor  of  divine  descent 
will  of  necessity  yield  a  patriotism  different  from  that 
which  flourishes  in  a  republic.     Before   Commodore 
Perry   came,   enthusiastic   preachers   of    Shinto   were 
saying  that  Japan  was  the  land  of  the  gods,  and  was, 
therefore,  far  above  any  other  land  in  privilege  and 
glory.     The  people  who  are  blessed  with  such  an  Em- 
peror ought  to  render  him  unquestioning  obedience, 


35 

which  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  all  duty.  Such 
teachings  of  course  increased  the  dislike  of  foreign  in- 
tercourse and  deepened  the  spirit  of  seclusion  and  of 
contempt  for  peoples  of  other  lands.  In  its  extreme 
form  it  was  claimed  that  the  soil  of  Japan  was  so  sacred 
that  no  alien  could  step  on  shore  without  defiling  it. 
Moreover,  no  enemy  had  ever  succeeded  in  getting 
foothold  here,  and  the  history  of  Japan  records  no 
defeat  in  battle  before  a  foreign  foe. 

2.  Subsequent  Change  of  Views. —  With  traditions 
of  such  tremendous  political  power,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  the  first  treaties  made  by  the  Shogun  aroused  the 
deep  anger  of  the  multitudes,  and  that  the  Emperor 
Komei,  in  his  seclusion  at  Kyoto,  on  hearing  of  this 
step,  ordered  the  treaties  canceled,  the  barbarians  ex- 
pelled, and  prayers  offered  at  the  Ise  Shrine  for  their 
complete  destruction.     But  when  the  present  Emperor, 
on  the  death  of  his  father,  opened  his  empire  to  the 
commerce  of  the  world,  granted  a  constitution  based 
on  the  rights  of  man,  welcomed  knowledge  from  the 
whole  world,  and  stepped  forward  into  political  equal- 
ity with  the  great  nations,  the  old  and  narrow  con- 
ception of  patriotism  broadened  out  without  any  loss 
of  intensity. 

3.  In  the  War  with  Russia. —  This  spirit  shows  itself 
in  the  war  with  Russia  by  absolute  fearlessness  of 
death.     A  single  soldier,  or  a  band  of  soldiers,  can 
always  be  found  eager  to  attempt  any  desperate  deed 
at  the  call  of  a  superior.     Kesshi-tai,  "  Resolved-to-die 
Band,"  is  a  common  expression,  and  the  entire  army 
and  navy  is   virtually   made  up  of   Kesshi-tai,   such 
as  those  who  died  in  blocking  Port  Arthur,  and  those 
who  stormed  the  trenches  and  wire  nets  of  Nan-shan 


36  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

again  and  again  until  their  dead  bodies  were  piled 
high  enough  for  the  reserves  standing  on  them  to 
victoriously  scale  the  defenses.  A  general  recently 
drew  up  a  regiment  of  his  troops  and  asked  each  one, 
"  What  is  your  purpose  in  going  to  the  front  ?  "  All 
but  one  replied  in  substance,  "  I  go  to  die  for  Japan." 
And  the  generals,  in  the  reports  of  their  victories,  al- 
ways ascribe  their  successes  to  "  the  virtues  of  the 
Emperor."  It  would  be  too  much  to  claim  all  this 
patriotism  as  the  product  solely  of  Shinto,  for  cer- 
tainly Buddhism  and  Confucianism  have  made  valuable 
contributions  to  the  grand  result.  But  the  beginnings 
are  deepest  in  Shinto,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  separate 
the  threads  that  have  been  woven  into  the  whole. 

VIII.  Shokon  of  Shintoism. —  i.  The  Monuments 
Described. —  The  bodies  of  the  vast  mass  of  soldiers 
who  die  on  the  battle-field  have  to  be  buried  where 
they  fall,  but  their  souls  are  called  back  to  their  native 
land  and  are  reverenced  in  worshipful  ceremonies. 
Corresponding  to  our  soldiers'  monuments  in  the 
United  States,  they  have  here  their  Shokon-hi,  the 
monument  that  calls  together  their  spirits.  These 
monuments  take  all  sorts  of  artistic  forms,  from  a 
great  slab  of  stone  to  an  expensive  monument  of 
granite  or  of  bronze,  and  the  Emperor  graciously  aids 
in  the  construction  of  these  memorials. 

2.  The  Worship. —  But  there  is  this  difference. 
Here  there  is  also  a  Shokon-sha,  or  shrine  behind  the 
monument,  where  services  are  held  in  honor  of  the 
dead,  and  offerings  of  fruits,  fish,  vegetables,  rice,  and 
sake  are  piled  up  for  the  dead  in  the  presence  of  gen- 
erals and  the  highest  civil  authorities,  of  relatives  of 
the  dead,  of  victorious  troops,  and  of  the  assembled 


SHINTO",  THE  WAY  OF  THE  GODS  37 

people,  all  of  whom  salute  the  dead  with  bows,  music, 
military  salutes;  and  Shinto  officials  in  archaic  robes 
intone  their  service.  If  you  ask  one  of  these  officials 
or  generals,  "  Is  this  a  religious  service  ?"  he  will 
promptly  reply,  "  No,  it  is  our  way  of  paying  respect 
to  the  dead,  of  honoring  our  patriots,  and  of  deepening 
the  spirit  of  patriotism  in  the  living."  It  is  with  this 
open  understanding  that  Christian  officers  and  soldiers 
take  part.  There  is  perfect  liberty  in  construing  the 
service  as  a  religious  one  or  not.  Of  course,  in  the 
minds  of  the  common  people  it  is  a  part  of  their  re- 
ligion. 

IX.  Shintoism's  Use  of  Pictures. —  i.  Picture  Gal- 
leries.—  Sometimes  a  shrine  dedicated  to  a  hero  has 
a  picture-gallery  within  the  court,  in  which  are  rough 
paintings  of  celebrated  warriors  and  their  battles. 
This  is  one  way  of  teaching  the  people  national  his- 
tory. The  sight  of  glorious  deeds  portrayed  arouses 
a  new  inspiration  to  live  and  act  in  a  manner  worthy 
of  Dai  Nippon. 

2.  Cheap  Prints  and  Paintings. —  But  in  most 
shrines  there  is  no  separate  picture-hall.  The  small 
coarse  pictures,  generally  not  a  foot  square,  are  hung 
on  the  latticed  doors  of  the  shrine.  There  is  nothing 
historic  or  ennobling  in  them.  In  early  times  a  white 
horse  was  offered  at  the  shrine  of  a  deified  hero,  just 
as  food  and  sake  were.  Even  now  there  can  occa- 
sionally be  seen  a  white  horse,  kept  in  a  stall  near  a 
shrine,  but  generally  a  picture  of  one  is  substituted. 
This  custom  gradually  broadened  out,  so  that  cheap 
daubs  of  all  kinds  literally  cover  the  doors  and  sides 
of  some  shrines.  There  are  snakes,  foxes,  centipedes, 
eels,  chickens,  cows,  fish,  the  style  depending  on  the 


38  RELIGIONS  OF  MISSION   FIELDS 

kind  of  god  worshipped  at  a  given  shrine.  A  better 
thought  is  seen  in  rough  pictures  of  persons  praying, 
or  making  a  vow,  or  expressing  thanks  for  good  luck 
and  for  good  health.  A  ruined  gambler  sketches  him- 
self with  his  dice  before  the  shrine  imploring  aid  to 
escape  from  his  evil  course.  A  drunkard  with  his  vow 
of  abstinence  "  for  five  years"  is  another  subject.  A 
dream  of  a  huge  snake  crawling  over  the  sleeper  is 
gratefully  painted  as  a  promise  of  good  luck  from 
the  resident  god. 

X.  Nature  Worship. —  i.  The  Sun. —  Of  all  objects 
in  nature  the  sun  is  the  noblest,  and  its  worship  is 
doubtless  the  most  elevating.  In  Japan,  where  Ama- 
terasu  Omikami,  the  Heaven  Illuminating  August 
Goddess,  is  the  first  ancestor  of  the  Imperial  line,  the 
worship  of  the  sun  is  most  intimately  connected  with 
that  of  the  Emperor  and  his  ancestors.  Modern  as- 
tronomical and  geographical  knowledge  has  almost 
ruined  the  morning  worship  of  the  sun  which,  thirty 
years  ago,  was  well-nigh  universal.  But  pilgrimages 
to  the  Ise  Shrine  are  still  in  order,  the  railroads  making 
it  easy  and  rapid.  "  What  impressed  you  the  most 
there?"  I  asked  a  wealthy  merchant  who  had  made  the 
pilgrimage  of  a  thousand  miles  in  four  days.  "  The 
moss  covered  rocks  and  the  giant  cryptomerias,  em- 
blems of  the  endlessness  of  the  Imperial  line,"  was  his 
earnest  reply.  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  deep  grati- 
tude of  the  people  to  Amaterasu  for  their  Ruling 
House.  I  once  heard  an  aged  pilgrim,  as  he  reverently 
kneeled  at  the  porch  of  the  great  shrine,  say  in  tearful 
voice,  "  Thanks !  Thanks !"  That  was  his  sole  prayer. 

2.  "  Eight  Millions  of  Gods." —  Next  comes  the 
moon,  then  earthly  objects  of  every  kind,  until  you 


SHINTO,   THE   WAY  OF  THE  GODS  39 

get  the  phrase,  "  Eight  millions  of  gods,"  meaning 
that-  everything  is  divine.  A  strange  looking  rock 
seems  to  conceal  some  spirit,  and  is  therefore  set  apart 
as  a  god.  Great  trees,  inspiring  awe  in  the  beholder, 
are  Shimboku,  god-trees,  and  are  decorated  with  the 
Shinto  emblems  of  straw  rope  and  white  paper. 
Waterfalls  are  embodiments  of  divine  life,  as  are 
rivers  and  oceans.  Mountains  little  and  large  are  the 
abodes  of  the  gods,  and  shrines  are  on  them  all. 
Among  animals  the  fox  and  white  snake  seem  to  have 
the  pre-eminence,  and  special  shrines  are  dedicated  to 
them,  the  fox  having  red  torii  at  the  entrance.  In- 
deed, all  nature  is  alive  with  gods  and  goddesses  and 
with  many  evil  imps,  too.  Every  trade  has  its  god- 
patron.  The  making  of  a  sword  was  especially  a 
religious  act.  The  beautiful  creations  of  Japanese  art 
were  done  with  vows  and  prayers. 

XL  Consequent  Superstitions. —  i.  Cases  Enu- 
merated.—  With  this,  as  is  inevitable  in  all  nature 
worship,  came  all  sorts  of  superstition  and  trances 
and  incarnations.  The  worship  of  the  principle  of  life, 
that  ended  in  such  gross  degradations  around  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  flourished  in  Japan  without,  how- 
ever, reaching  such  a  stage  of  moral  collapse.  This 
was  legally  abolished  in  the  early  Meiji  days.  The 
power  of  charms  is  still  an  article  of  common  faith 
among  the  people.  A  soldier  can  buy  for  a  cent  or 
two  a  charm  that  tends  to  save  him  from  Russian 
bullets.  You  can  go  to  a  shrine  where  snakes  are 
divine,  and  by  paying  a  few  cash  can  draw  lots  that 
will  reveal  your  future.  If  you  draw  bad-luck  at  first, 
you  can  try,  try  again  until  you  are  favored  with  good- 
luck.  The  health-giving  hot  springs  of  Japan,  of 


4O  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

which  there  are  over  a  thousand,  all  have  their  patron 
god  to  whom  prayers  and  a  slight  offering  may  be 
made  for  the  sake  of  being  cured  of  bad  eyes,  head- 
ache, stomach  troubles,  barrenness,  rheumatism,  and 
leprosy.  The  seven  gods  of  luck  are  popular  through- 
out the  whole  land,  the  two  most  common  being 
Daikoku,  the  god  of  wealth,  and  Ebisu,  the  god  of 
fish.  Their  forms  are  carved  in  wood,  and  cast  in 
iron,  brass,  and  even  gold. 

2.  Not  Fully  Believed  in. —  It  is  astonishing  that  a 
people  so  bright  and  gifted  can  be  so  overloaded  with 
superstition.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  they 
have  set  limits  and  are  not  the  slaves  of  superstition, 
as  are  the  Koreans.  Superstition  sits  lightly  upon  the 
people  here,  and  they  freely  laugh  at  themselves  when 
asked  to  explain  this  nonsense.  It  is  very  much  like 
our  nailing  a  horseshoe  over  the  door  for  good  luck, 
without  leaving  the  issue  to  the  horseshoe. 

XII.  Shinto  and  the  Government. —  i.  Relation  in 
Ancient  Times. —  From  what  has  been  said  under  the 
head  of  Patriotism  it  will  easily  be  inferred  that  in 
the  distant  past  Shinto  and  the  government  were  one 
and  the  same  thing,  as  close  a  union  of  church  and 
state  as  history  affords.  With  a  line  of  emperors  rep- 
resenting the  supreme  gods  and  the  Ise  Shrine  in  that 
magnificent  grove  of  god-trees  where  Amaterasu,  "  the 
First  Ancestor  "  of  the  Imperial  line,  is  worshipped, 
the  government  and  religion  of  Japan  were  one  and 
the  same.  To  obey  the  Tenshi,  "  Son  of  Heaven," 
was  the  chief  end  of  man. 

2.  Ryobu,  the  Next  Period. —  When  Buddhism 
first  came,  it  could  gain  no  strength  until  its  advo- 
cates pretended  to  discover  that  the  gods  of  Japan 


SHINTO,  THE   WAY  OF  THE   GODS  4! 

were  incarnations  of  various  Buddhas.  This  led  to 
what  is  called  Ryobu,  a  mixture  of  the  two  religions, 
that  lasted  for  nearly  a  thousand  years.  This  move- 
ment checked  the  development  of  Shintoism,  while 
Buddhism  gained  the  ascendency,  both  of  course  being 
state  religions,  as  is  forever  the  case  in  every  panthe- 
istic land. 

3.  Revival  of  Pure  Shinto. —  But  about  a  hundred 
years  ago  there  was  a  revival  of  Shintoism,  having 
as  its  object  the  recognition  of  the  Emperor  as  the 
actual  ruler  of  Japan,  instead  of  the  Shogun  usurpers. 
The  movement  gained  such  wide  acceptance  that  when 
the  Restoration  took  place  in  1868,  Shinto  alone  was 
made  the  state  religion,  much  to  the  grief  of  Bud- 
dhists.    The  exalted  place  thus  regained  was  speedily 
lost  in  the  rapid  growth  of  political  science;  so  that 
when  the  constitution  was  promulgated  in  1889,  with 
its  celebrated  28th  Article  granting  religious  liberty 
to  the  people,  Shinto  was  virtually  thrown  back  upon 
its  own  resources.     Japan  now  has  no  state  religion. 

4.  Government   Favor   To-day. —  Still,    Shinto   has 
made  too  deep  a  mark  upon  the  history  of  Japan  to  be 
wholly  cast  aside  by  the  government.     So  the  step 
has  been  taken  of  giving  government  aid  to  certain 
shrines  of  national  importance,  that  they  may  be  per- 
petuated as  monuments  of  a  past  age.     Their  religious 
character  is  on  the  wane.     So  when  the  budget  con- 
tains an  item  of  a  few  housand  yen  for  this  and  that 
shrine,  it  is  not  because  of  their  religious  character, 
but  because  they  are  historic  monuments  worthy  of 
being  maintained  as  silent  teachers  of  the  past.     I  re- 
cently visited  a  shrine  splendidly  rebuilt  by  the  govern- 
ment in  honor  of  Izanagi  and  Izanami,  the  mythical 


42  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

parents  of  Amaterasu.  I  asked  the  shrine  keeper  how 
he  regarded  this  ancient  couple, —  whether  as  gods  to 
be  worshipped,  or  as  ancient  heroes  who  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  the  empire,  and  so  were  worthy  of  patriotic 
reverence.  His  unhesitating  reply  suggested  purely 
patriotic  grounds. 

5.  Even  Ise  Secularized. —  One  signal  evidence  of 
this  loss  of  religious  status  is  the  surprising  step  taken 
by  the  most  powerful  and  central  Ise  Shrine,  which  is 
most  closely  related  to  the  Imperial  House.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1899,  this  shrine  announced  that  it  was  no 
longer  to  be  regarded  as  a  religious  corporation,  but 
had  become  a  secular  body,  registered  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  ancient  and  historic  cult.  This  act  aroused 
bitter  opposition  among  the  various  Shinto  sects  that 
have  hoped  to  be  restored  to  the  position  of  some  kind 
of  state  religion. 

XIII.  New  Sects  of  Shinto. —  I.  Reasons  for  Their 
Rise. —  The  new  knowledge  which  the  Emperor  cor- 
dially welcomed  by  his  famous  Ascension  Rescript, 
"  Search  for  knowledge  throughout  the  whole  world," 
has  profoundly  modified  all  the  religious  traditions  of 
Japan.  We  have  noted  the  abolition  of  one  claim  of 
Shintoism  that  the  civilized  world  will  not  endure. 
Its  central  shrine  has  voluntarily  abdicated  its  claim 
to  be  a  religion.  Worship  of  the  sun  has  almost 
wholly  disappeared.  Ancestor  worship  has  been  modi- 
fied by  the  new  family  laws  that  weaken  the  power 
of  parents  and  that  recognize  the  rights  of  children. 

2.  Three  Prominent  Sects. —  With  religious  liberty 
in  the  air,  sects  have  multiplied,  with  the  usual  result 
that  the  orthodox  and  the  heretics  say  some  pretty 
hard  things  of  one  another.  The  three  new  sects  of 


SHINTO,  THE  WAY  OF  THE  GODS  43 

prominence  are  the  Kurozumi,  the  Remmon,  and  the 
Tenri.  They  are  frequently  called  immoral  by  the  or- 
thodox, and  in  some  cases  the  police  have  been  ordered 
to  watch  their  meetings.  The  Tenri,  "  Heavenly  Rea- 
son," sect  has  had  phenomenal  success,  its  adherents 
rapidly  increasing  to  more  than  a  million.  It  was 
founded  by  a  woman  in  Nara  who  taught  the  doctrine 
of  ten  gods  and  the  worship  of  sun  and  moon.  An 
attempt  at  universalism  was  made  by  teaching  that 
the  ten  gods  are  the  divine  parents  of  the  human  race, 
loving  them  and  longing  to  do  them  good.  And, 
though  the  Japanese  are  nearest  the  gods,  the  truth 
is  for  the  whole  human  family. 

XIV.  Shinto  a  Form  of  Pantheism. —  i.  Evolu- 
tion of  Gods. —  In  this  religion  1  there  is  no  creator, 
but  rather  the  gods  are  evolved  from  previously  exist- 
ing matter,  and  then  they  take  a  hand  in  shaping 
things.  The  universe  is  peopled  with  gods  under  all 
sorts  of  forms.  Something  like  this  is  a  necessary 
step  in  the  evolution  and  education  of  the  race.  The 
ruler,  being  a  god,  unites  religion  and  government. 


1  In  this  chapter  I  have  spoken  of  Shinto  as  a  religion  and 
also  as  a  cult.  I  have  stated  that  the  chief  shrine  authorities 
deny  that  Shinto  is  a  religion.  It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind 
that  it  is  common  now  for  their  authorities  to  say  unqualifiedly 
that  Shinto  is  not  a  religion,  that  it  has  no  preaching,  nor 
priests,  nor  worship,  nor  prayers.  And  yet  celebrated  Shin- 
toists  attended  the  Parliament  of  Religions  at  Chicago,  and 
recently  in  Tokyo,  they  took  part  in  the  great  religious 
meeting  of  Buddhists  and  Christians.  Probably  this  denial 
of  religion  is  for  the  purpose  of  utilizing  the  powerful  religious 
sentiment  of  the  past  in  the  support  of  loyalty  and  patriotism, 
so  that  every  Japanese  may  be  a  Shintoist,  that  is  a  patriot, 
and  at  the  same  time  may  be  a  believer  in  Christ  or  Buddha. 
Within  a  few  years,  Japan  will  have  a  Religions  Law,  and- 
by  that  time  we  shall  know  whether  to  call  Shinto  a  religion 
or  not. 


44  RELIGIONS   O*    MISSION    FIELDS 

The  government  is  always  a  despotism.  Men  have 
no  rights  save  those  granted  by  the  divine  ruler.  Lib- 
erty is  an  unknown  word,  or  if  known,  its  use  is  for- 
bidden. 

2.  Worship. —  Worship  in  all  pantheistic  systems 
has  a  lower  sense  than  in  monotheism.  When  the  term 
is  applied  to  stones,  trees,  mountains,  the  sun,  heroes, 
ancestors,  and  rulers,  it  cannot  have  the  depth  of 
meaning  that  monotheism  yields.  Just  as  soon  as 
theistic  faith  began  to  have  currency  here  the  word 
worship,  reihai,  gained  a  new  meaning  exactly  as  it 
did  in  Europe.  Several  years  ago  two  or  three  Chris- 
tians refused  to  worship  the  Emperor's  picture,  which 
caused  great  excitement  all  through  the  empire.  But 
thoughtful  Japanese  at  once  began  to  see  that  endless 
internal  and  even  international  friction  would  be  for- 
ever arising  unless  this  question  were  settled  on  his- 
torical lines,  true  to  the  evolution  of  civilization.  So 
the  authorities  did  not  press  for  the  use  of  the  old 
word  reihai,  but  permitted  keirei,  reverential  saluta- 
tion. It  is  a  mighty  advance  when  no  one  is  forced 
to  worship  the  Emperor  as  a  god.  Religious  liberty 
is  one  of  the  glories  of  New  Japan. 

XV.  The  Good  and  Evil  of  Shinto.—  i.  The 
Good. —  In  the  infancy  of  the  race,  everything  that 
lifts  man  even  one  little  step  upward  is  of  value.  It  is 
argued  by  many  that  the  race  had  to  pass  through 
pantheism  in  order  to  reach  theism.  Worship  of  the 
sun  and  moon  is  vastly  more  elevating  than  the  wor- 
ship of  a  fetish.  The  worship  of  ancestors  is  an  all 
important  step  in  the  formaton  of  the  permanent  fam- 
ily line.  It  also  deepens  faith  in  a  personal  future  life. 
The  worship  of  the  emperors  as  gods  aids  in  establish- 


SHINTO,  THE   WAY  OF  THE  GODS  45 

ing  the  social  order  and  is  a  necessity  in  the  early 
formation  of  powerful  political  combination.  With- 
out these  stages  of  religious  belief  it  is  certain  that 
Japan  could  never  have  become  the  great  empire  she 
now  is.  God  has  never  been  far  from  this  people, 
leading  them  by  means  of  the  religious  spirit  into 
family  life  and  permanent  society  until,  in  the  fulness 
of  time,  He  is  revealing  himself  as  the  First  Great 
Ancestor,  the  Father  of  all  men  through  Jesus  Christ 
His  Son.  His  Holy  Spirit  was  here  ages  before 
Christian  missionaries  came,  guiding  the  people  to- 
ward the  truth.  Their  faith  that  they  are  the  chil- 
dren of  the  gods,  and  their  land  Shinkoku,  the  "  land 
of  the  gods,"  is  a  stepping-stone  to  the  larger  faith 
that  all  men  are  children  of  God  and  that  all  lands 
will  become  the  Kingdom  of  God,  whose  will  will  be 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven. 

2.  The  Evil. — As  for  the  superstitions  and  de- 
grading customs  and  even  licentiousness  that  have 
found  shelter  under  Shintoism,  we  know  that  it  is  a 
universal  law  that  all  these  tend  to  appear  whenever 
a  religion  crystalizes  into  forms  and  empty  cere- 
monies. The  thing  to  remember  is  that  the  religious 
spirit  in  man  has  a  power  to  resist  degradation  and 
to  break  through  superstitions,  especially  if  brought  in 
contact  with  a  higher  religious  influence.  The  lower 
is  a  preparation  for  the  higher. 

While  writing  this,  the  daily  papers  contain  in  every 
issue  paragraphs  on  Shinto  prayers.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  of  the  great  scholars  in  Tokyo  are  ridicul- 
ing those  who  pray,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  sheer 
superstition,  since  the  victory  of  course  will  go  to  the 
strongest  side.  It  would  be  a  pity  indeed  if  the  schol- 


46  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

ars  should  succeed  in  killing  this  spirit  of  prayer  —  a 
basis  for  rational  prayer.  The  following  are  samples 
of  these  newspaper  items : 

"  On  July  27th,  at  the  Eight-Cloud  Shrine,  prayers 
were  offered  for  victory,  and  charms  were  given  to 
each  of  the  relatives  of  soldiers." 

"  At  Tajiri  village,  two  women  started  subscrip- 
tions for  the  erection  of  a  great  stone  torii  before  the 
village  shrine.  Prayers  were  offered  there  for  victory 
on  the  part  of  the  Imperial  Army,  and  the  one  in 
charge  distributed  charms  to  the  relatives  of  soldiers." 

"  All  the  young  men  of  Takasago  village  went  to 
Atago  Shrine  and  prayed  all  night.  Then  they  went 
to  Hachiman  to  pray  for  the  downfall  of  Port  Arthur." 
XVI.  The  Future  of  Shinto. — History  shows  that  as 
nations  advance  and  knowledge  increases,  polytheism 
gives  way  to  monotheism,  local  gods  retire  before  the 
coming  of  the  One  Universal  Spirit  God.  Ancestor 
worship  is  of  necessity  a  local,  or  tribal,  or  at  best  a 
national  affair.  It  changes  and  gives  way  to  a  higher 
worship,  whenever  nations  advance  toward  political 
equality  and  free  intercourse.  No  Shintoist  expects 
that  his  faith  will  become  universal.  Contact  with  a 
religion  that  has  given  priceless  liberties  to  man,  that 
has  purified  the  home,  and  that  brings  the  human  fam- 
ily into  brotherhood  will  irresistibly  modify  this  an- 
cient religion.  We  need  not  seek  to  learn  whether 
the  number  of  shrines  is  diminishing  or  not,  the  law  of 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  will  surely  sooner  or  later 
show  the  great  change.  The  beautiful  torii  will  doubt- 
less remain;  the  national  shrines  will  be  preserved  as 
historic  monuments ;  Daikoku  and  Ebisu  with  their 
smiling  faces  will  continue  to  be  symbols  of  good  luck. 


SHINTO,   THE   WAY  OF   THE  GODS  47 

But  all  the  same,  the  grander  and  universal  motives 
of  Christianity  will  fulfil  and  perfect  the  reverence  for 
ancestors,  the  devotion  to  Emperor  and  duty,  and  the 
hope  of  blessed  immortality  through  the  risen  Savior. 
XVII.  How  Should  Missionaries  Approach  Shin- 
toists? —  Naturally  the  question  will  arise  in  the  minds 
of  many  readers  as  to  how  the  missionary  deals  with 
a  Shintoist.  What  has  been  said  in  the  preceding 
pages  will  suggest  the  lines  on  which  the  Christian 
preacher  will  try  to  do  his  work. 

1.  The    Christian   Idea    of    True    Worship. — For    one 
thing,  we  have  seen  that  the  word  worship  in  panthe- 
ism has  a  lower  meaning  than  in  monotheism.     By 
sympathetically  teaching  that  the  supreme  object  of 
worship  is  the   Divine  Spirit  universally  present   in 
and  above  all  creation  and  that  He  is  our  Father  and 
the  Ancestor  of  all  men,  those  whose  hearts  tend  to 
open  to  this  great  truth  will  gradually,  and  sometimes 
suddenly,  find  that  the  act  of  worship  has  a  far  deeper 
and  more  cleansing  force  than  they  had  ever  exper- 
ienced.    The  new  and  more  illuminating  meaning  will 
surely  subvert  the  lower.     More  than  that,  it  will  up- 
root the  wrong  and  belittling  and  superstitious  aspects 
that  have  hitherto  held  the  ground  unchallenged. 

2.  A   Christian's    Advice. —  While    writing    this,    I 
asked  a  ripe  Christian  leader  how  to  go  to  work  to 
convert  a  Shintoist.     His  instant  reply  was :     "  So  far 
as  Shintoism  is  an  embodiment  of  loyalty  to  the  Im- 
perial Line,  we  are  all  Shintoists.    But  so  far  as  there 
are  superstitions  and  erroneous  worship,  why,  the  best 
way  is  to  do  as  I  have  done  in  making  my  lawn  which 
was  full  of  all  sorts  of  weeds.     I  put  in  here  and  there 
a  few  tufts  of  clover,  and  that  clover  has  spread  and 


48  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

conquered  the  weeds,  so  that  now  I  have  a  clean  lawn 
of  clover  only." 

3.  Trust  in  the  Power  of  Truth. — The  main  thing 
for  us  missionaries  to  do  is  to  have  splendid  confidence 
in  the  power  of  truth  to  make  men  free.     The  method 
of  denunciation,  based  on  the  second  commandment 
or  on  any  other,  from  foreigners  who  have  not  studied 
from  living  and  earnest  Shinto  scholars  so  as  to  know 
sympathetically  the  moral  and  spiritual  value  of  this 
religious  force,  will  be  likely  to  do  more  harm  than 
good.     Destructive    methods    directed    against    gross 
idolatry,  brazen  formality,  lust,  ignorance,  and  oppres- 
sion, are  of  great  value  as  an  expression  of  righteous 
indignation,  and  from  the  days  of  the  fearless  prophets, 
such  work  has  told  in  the  uplifting  of  peoples  and  na- 
tions.    But  none  the  less,  the  Great  Teacher  has  given 
us  His  divine  method  of  fulfilling  rather  than  of  de- 
stroying.    To  enrich  the  content  of  the  old  and  pre- 
paratory religions,  to  displace  error  with  truth, —  this 
is  the  best  way  in  which  to  meet  those  whose  history 
and  religious  heredity  differ  from  ours. 

4.  Illustrations. — Many  illustrations  are  at  the  hand 
of  every  missionary  of  experience.     I  once  found  an 
old  gentleman  of  high  station  cutting  out  the  beauti- 
fully painted  heads  of  his  ancestors  from  their  silk 
mountings.     Astonished    at    his    destructive    work    I 
asked,  "  Why  are  you  doing  this  ?"  His  reply  was, 
"  Why,  you  yourself  have  taught  me  that  it  is  wrong 
to  worship  any  but  God,  and  so  I  am  going  to  burn 
up  these  things  that  I  used  to  worship."     I  checked 
his  vandalism  by  means  of  a   fuller  teaching.     But 
there  you  have  it.     The  deeper  and   soul  satisfying 
truth  sometimes  produces  quick  and  destructive  hatred 


SHINTO,   THE   WAY  OF   THE  GODS  49 

of  things  heretofore  held  as  sacred.  Our  beloved 
Joseph  Neesima  no  sooner  reached  the  home  of  his 
Shinto  father  than  he  persuaded  him  to  burn  the  whole 
god-shelf  apparatus,  save  what  he  kept  to  send  Mr. 
Hardy.  A  Japanese  graduate  of  Harvard,  now  an  ex- 
cabinet  officer  of  baronial  rank,  on  his  return  to  Japan 
kindly  explained  to  his  widowed  mother  the  worthless- 
ness  of  her  Shinto  god-shelf.  She  firmly  resisted,  but 
he  patiently  and  gently  taught  her  as  opportunity  oc- 
curred. She  burned  her  god-shelf  and  said,  "  I  now 
know  that  God  is  everywhere." 

5.  The  Main  Point. —  The  missionary's  business  is 
humbly  to  keep  his  mind  open  to  see  God's  methods  of 
educating  these  Eastern  peoples,  until  he  reaches  the1 
point  where  He  trusts  him  to  become  fellow  teacher 
with  Him,  and  then  to  exhaust  the  resources  of  sac- 
rificing love  in  helping  to  open  the  minds  of  those 
around  him  to  see  and  to  welcome  the  truth. 


III.  HINDUISM 

BY  REV.  C.  A.  R.  JANVIER 
For  .Fourteen  Years-  a  Missionary  to  India 


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THOBURN,  J.  M.    India  and  Malaysia  (1892).    Chs.  VI,  X. 

TISDALL,  W.  ST.  CLAIR-.  India:  Its  History,  Darkness,  and 
Dawn  (1901).  Pp.  52-66. 

VAUGHAN  T.  The  Trident,  the  Crescent,  and  the  Cross 
(1876).  Chs.  Ill,  VII. 

*WILKINS,  W.  J.  Modern  Hinduism  (1887).  Pp.  193-321, 
395-436. 

*  Indicates  works  of  special  value  or  authority. 

52 


Ill 

HINDUISM 

I.  Ancient  Hinduism. — i.  Hinduism's  Claim  on 
the  Student's  Interest. — Whatever  be  the  religion  on 
which  the  thoughtful  student  focuses  his  attention,  its 
claim  on  his  interest  will  assume  superlative  propor- 
tions. Hinduism  is  far  from  being  an  exception.  Its 
adherents  are  numbered  not  by  the  million,  but  by  the 
hundred  million.  Its  age  is  measured  not  by  centuries, 
but  by  millenniums.  Brought  into  peculiarly  intimate 
contact  with  other  great  religions,  Mohammedanism, 
Buddhism,  Zoroastrianism,  and  Christianity,  it  affords 
rare  opportunity  for  the  comparative  study  of  its  doc- 
trines. It  is  in  more  intimate  alliance  with  philosophy 
—  not  necessarily  true  philosophy  —  than  any  other 
belief.  It  is  the  most  tolerant,  in  theory,  of  all  re- 
ligions; it  has  room  under  its  aegis  for  any  doctrine 
under  heaven,  provided  certain  simple  conditions  be 
complied  with.  Its  very  elusiveness  attracts  interest. 
The  baffled  student  returns  again  and  again  to  his  task 
with  new  determination  to  perfectly  analyze  its  subtle 
thought  and  fully  define  its  complex  system.  He  is 
not  likely  to  succeed.  No  one  has  yet.  But  his  quest 
is  still  worth  while.  He  will  be  getting  the  nearer  to 
the  heart  of  two  hundred  millions  of  his  fellow  men ; 
he  will  be  fitting  himself  to  present  to  them  more  wise- 
ly and  sympathetically  that  truth  which  has  been  found 

S3 


54  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

to  meet  man's  deepest  need,  all  man's  need,  everywhere 
and  always. 

2.  To  be  Studied  Historically. —  Hinduism  has  no 
central  figure  whom  to  know  would  be  to  know  ap- 
proximately the  religion  itself.     It  has  not  now,  nor 
ever  has  had,  any  generally  accepted  exponent.     Not 
only  is  it  in  no  sense  the  product  of  a  single  mind,  even 
in  its  earliest  traceable  phases,  but  it  is  not  to  be  fully 
learned  from  any  sacred  book  or  library  of  sacred 
books,  partly  because  there  is  no  final  authority  to  de- 
cide what  is  sacred,  and  partly  because  there  is  so 
much  of  it,  in  its  practical  aspects,  that  is  to  be  found 
in  no  book.     It  is  a  religio-philosophical  congeries  to 
which  many  peoples  with  many  creeds  have  through 
many  centuries   contributed  their  varying  parts.     In 
order  to  understand  it  at  all,  therefore,  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  stages  through  which  it  has  passed  is  essen- 
tial. 

3.  Its  Sacred  Books. —  These  stages  being  marked  in 
part  by  the  successive  sacred  books,  it  is  well  to  take 
time  at  this  point  for  a  brief  enumeration  and  descrip- 
tion of  these  books.     They  are  divided  into  two  classes, 
the  more  authoritative  called  Sruti  ("  that  which  has 
been  heard,"  i.  e.,  from  the  Divine  voice)  and  the  less 
authoritative,  called  Smriti   ("  that  which  is  remem- 
bered"). 

(a)  The  Sruti. —  To  the  former  or  higher  class 
belong  the  Vedas  alone.  They  are  four  in  number: 
Rig-veda,  Sama-veda,  Yajur-veda  and  Atharva-veda ; 
and  their  composition  probably  covers  a  thousand  years 
or  more,  beginning  with  the  period  —  not  earlier  than 
2000  B.  C. —  when  the  Aryans  first  invaded  and  over- 
spread the  plains  of  the  Indus.  The  four  Vedas  are 


HINDUISM  55 

not  contemporaneous  of  course,  nor  yet  are  they  strict- 
ly successive;  for  the  earlier  portions  of  one  are  in 
most  cases  more  ancient  than  the  later  portions  of  its 
predecessor.  Each  Veda  consists  of  three  divisions : 
Hymns,  Samhita,  or  Mantra;  Ritual,  Brahmana;  and 
Philosophical  Treatises,  Upanishad,  included  with 
Aranyaka,  or  "  Forest  Treatises."  The  Samhitas  are 
the  oldest  portion  of  each  Veda  and  consist  of  versified 
prayers  and  praises ;  the  Brahmanas  come  next  and  are 
commentaries,  mostly  in  prose,  explaining  how  the 
Samhitas  are  to  be  used  in  the  performance  of  religious 
rites;  and  last  come  the  Aranyakas  and  Upanishads, 
consisting  of  philosophical  inquiries  on  religious 
themes,  ostensibly  based  on  the  Samhitas.  The  term 
Veda  is  sometimes  applied  exclusively  to  the  Hymns ; 
and  yet,  as  Dr.  Murdoch  well  says, — "  Letter  to  Ma- 
haraja of  Darbhangah,"  p.  19, — "  Not  only  are  the 
Brahmanas  and  Upanishads  as  much  Sruti  as  the 
Mantras  (Samhita),  but  the  Upanishads  are  prac- 
tically the  only  Veda  studied  by  thoughtful  Hindus  of 
the  present  day." 

(b)  The  Smriti. —  This  term  is  more  elastic,  its  con- 
tent varying  with  the  viewpoint  of  the  individual  sect 
of  Hindus,  but  it  may  be  said  to  include  among  other 
books  the  following : 

The  Darsanas,  or  systematized  "  exhibitions  "  of  the 
philosophy  of  the  Upanishads.  These  are  six  in  num- 
ber, each  serving  as  the  basis  of  a  separate  philosophi- 
cal sect :  Nyaya,  Vaiseshika,  Sankhya,  Yoga,  Miman- 
sa,  and  Vedanta.  Their  date  it  is  impossible  to  fix 
with  exactness,  further  than  to  say  that  probably  they 
originally  belong  to  the  period  immediately  preceding 
and  including  the  rise  of  Buddhism,  but  did  not  take 


their  present  form  much  before  the  Christian  era.  The 
Sankhya,  Yoga,  and  Vedanta  have  been  the  three  most 
influential  schools  of  thought,  the  last  the  most  influ- 
ential of  all. 

The  Laws  of  Manu,  or  Manava  Dharma  Sastra,  a 
treatise  on  religious  jurisprudence,  bearing  somewhat 
the  same  relation  to  the  Brahmana  as  the  Darsana  do 
to  the  Upanishad,  and  belonging  probably  to  the  period 
between  500  and  300  B.  C. 

The  Epic  poems  Ramayana  and  Mahabharata, 
which  include  legends  of  a  remote  age,  but  may  in  their 
present  form  safely  be  placed  in  the  early  centuries  of 
the  Christian  era. 

The  eighteen  Puranas,  a  kind  of  versified  encyclo- 
pedia of  religion,  philosophy,  science,  and  history,  be- 
longing in  their  collated  form  to  the  period  between 
the  twelfth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  A.  D. 

The  Tantras,  somewhat  similar  to  the  Puranas,  but 
belonging  probably  to  a  slightly  later  period,  and  set- 
ting forth  the  principles  of  the  obscene  Sakti  worship. 

4.  Successive  Stages  of  Progress  of  Hinduism. — 
Following  in  general  the  lines  indicated  in  the  above 
enumeration  of  Hinduism's  sacred  books,  its  initial 
stage,  as  reflected  in  the  Samhita  of  the  Rig-veda,  is  by 
common  consent  named,  (a)  Vedic  Hinduism.  There 
are  to  be  found  in  this  period  suggestive  traces  of  an 
original  monotheism l  as,  for  instance,  in  the  name  of 

1The  fourth  and  sixth  lines  of  the  following  extract  from 
the   Rig-veda    (X.    129,   Muir's   translation)    give   a   hint  of 
monotheistic  thought  already  passing  into  pantheism : 
"  Then  there  was  neither  aught  nor  naught,  no  air  nor  sky 

beyond. 

What  covered   all  ?    Where   rested  all  ?    In  watery  gulf 
profound  ? 


HINDUISM  57 

one  of  the  gods  of  the  Rig-veda,  Dyaus-pitar,  in  con- 
nection with  whom  Max  Miiller  says :  "  If  I  were 
asked  what  I  consider  the  most  important  discovery 
which  has  been  made  during  the  nineteenth  century 
with  respect  to  the  ancient  history  of  mankind,  I 
should  answer  by  the  following  short  line:  Sanskrit, 
Dyaitsh  Pitar  =  Greek,  Zeus  Pater  =  Latin,  Jupiter 
=  Old  Norse,  Tyr.  Think  what  this  equation  implies ! 
It  implies  not  only  that  our  own  ancestors  and  the  an- 
cestors of  Homer  and  Cicero  spoke  the  same  language 
as  the  people  of  India, —  this  is  a  discovery  which, 
however  incredible  it  sounded  at  first,  has  long  ceased 
to  cause  any  surprise, —  but  it  implies  and  proves  that 
they  all  had  once  the  same  faith,  and  worshipped  for  a 
time  the  same  supreme  Deity  under  exactly  the  same 
name  —  name  which  meant  Heaven-Father." 

The  actual  religion  of  the  period  itself  may,  how- 
ever, be  described  as  polytheistic  nature  worship. 
Sacrifice  and  offering  were  common.  Some  of  the 
more  prominent  of  the  "  thrice  eleven  "  deities  —  in 
Rig-veda  3d,  9,  9  we  have  a  much  larger  number  — 
were  Varuna,  (Oupavos)  "Encompassing  Firmament," 
Indra,  the  Rain-god,  Agni,  the  Fire-god,  Surya,  the 
Sun-god,  etc. 

(b)  Brahmanic,  or  Ritualistic  Hinduism. —  As  the 
centuries  passed  the  number  of  the  gods  steadily  in- 
creased. Bloody  sacrifices  were  enormously  multi- 

Nor  death  was  then,  nor  deathlessness,  nor  change  of  night 

nor  day ; 

That  one  breathed  calmly,  self-sustained ;  naught  else  be- 
yond it  lay. 

Gloom  hid  in  gloom  existed  first  —  one  sea,  eluding  view ; 

That  one,  a  void  in  chaos  wrapt  by  inward  fervor  grew." 


58  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

plied.  Under  the  influence,  probably  of  the  grosser  re- 
ligious ideas  of  the  aborigines  with  whom  the  Aryans 
mingled,  the  element  of  fear  became  more  conspicuous. 
Religion  began  to  be  stereotyped.  Success  in  dealing 
with  supernatural  powers  depended  upon  the  proper  se- 
lection of  Mantras  and  absolute  accuracy  in  their  repe- 
tition. Formulas  superseded  worship,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  those  who  learned  and  repeated  them  increased 
proportionately.  The  thought  of  this  period  is  mir- 
rored in  the  Brahmanas  of  the  Vedas  and  in  its  later 
phases  in  the  Code  of  Manu ;  and  its  most  marked  fruit 
was  the  development  of  the  caste  system,  with  the 
priest  class,  or  Brahmans,  at  its  head. 

(c)  Philosophic  Hinduism  came  as  the  inevitable 
reaction  from  all  this  formalism.  Men  sought  relief 
from  empty  ritual,  endless  sacrifices,  and  priestly  pre- 
tensions in  the  philosophic  speculations  which  pro- 
duced first  the  Upanishads  of  the  Vedas,  and  then  the 
six  Darsanas  professedly  based  on  them.  Atheism, 
polytheism,  and  even  monotheism  may  be  traced  in 
these  writings,  though  the  prevailing  thought  of  the 
period  was  pantheistic.1  One  religious  feature  of  this 
time  deserves  special  attention.  In  the  Brahmanic 
period  the  way  of  deliverance  had  been  the  karma- 
marg  or  "  path  of  works,  or  ritual ;  "  in  the  philosophic 
it  was  the  jnana-marg  or  "  way  of  knowledge."  To 

1  Whether  pantheism  precedes  or  follows  polytheism  is  a 
question  of  no  small  interest.  Hinduism's  history  would  seem 
to  give  pantheism  the  later  place,  and  it  seems  fair  to  ask 
whether  pantheism  is  not  the  philosopher's  protest  against,  and 
explanation  of,  polytheism  —  man's  blundering  attempt  to  get 
back  to  that  from  which  polytheism  has  fallen.  Is  not  Plato 
a  case  in  point? 


HINDUISM  59 

know  one's  identity  1  with  the  true,  infinite,  and  eternal 
self,  this  was  salvation.  Transmigration  of  souls  had 
come  now  to.be  an  essential  feature  of  Hindu  thought,2 
and  the  one  idea  of  salvation  was  that  of  deliverance 
from  endless  re-births  —  8,400,000  is  the  popular  con- 
ception. The  six  systems  professing  to  set  forth  this 
way  of  deliverance,  though  all  appealing  to  the  Vedas 
and  all  accepted  to  this  day  as  wholly  orthodox,  were 
utterly  opposed  one  to  another.  The  Bhagavad-gita, 
that  remarkable  production  which  comes  as  an  obvious 
interpolation  in  the  great  epic,  the  Mahabharata,  is  an 
attempt  to  harmonize  three  of  these  systems,  and  be- 
longs properly  to  Philosophic  Hinduism,  though  in  a 
later  stage  of  development. 

It  is  to  the  early  part  of  this  same  period  that  the 
rise  of  Buddhism  belongs.  It  was  the  logical  outcome 
of  certain  phases  of  the  thought  of  the  time,  as  ex- 
hibited especially  in  the  Sankhya  school,  and  like  philo- 
sophic Hinduism  in  general,  it  was  a  protest  against 
the  preceding  empty  formalism  and  the  arrogant  pre- 
tensions of  the  priesthood. 

II.  Modern  Hinduism. — It  would  possibly  be 
more  accurate  to  interpose  another  division,  Puranic 
Hinduism,  between  the  Philosophic  and  the  Modern, 
but  for  the  purposes  of  this  sketch  it  is  safe  to  date 
back  modern  Hinduism  to  the  early  centuries  of  the 

1  The  two  "  great  sentences "  were  Brahmasmi,  "  I  am 
Brahma,"  and  Tattwam  asi,  "  It  thou  art." 

*  There  can  be  little  or  no  question  that  this  doctrine  was 
taken  by  Buddha  from  Hinduism,  not  by  the  latter  from  Bud- 
dhism, as  is  sometimes  stated.  See  "  Hinduism,  Past  and 
Present,"  pp.  50,  132 ;  De  la  Fosse's  "  History  of  India,"  p.  28 ; 
Tisdall's  "  India :  Its  History,  Darkness  and  Dawn." 


60  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

Christian  era,  from  the  time  when  it  began  to  recover 
from  what  had  promised  to  be  its  death-blow  and  to 
gain  the  mastery  over  its  lusty  child,  Buddhism.  Dur- 
ing the  half  millennium  of  Buddhist  supremacy,  the 
Hinduism  of  the  masses,  partly  under  the  increased  in- 
fluence of  the  Dravidian  cults  of  southern  India,  partly 
perhaps  through  the  deliberate  purpose  of  the  Brah- 
mans  to  offset  the  power  of  the  dominant  religion  by 
popularizing  Hinduism  along  evil  lines,  made  rapid 
progress  in  the  direction  of  a  grosser  polytheism,  and 
at  the  same  time  adapted  itself  to  Buddhistic  thought 
by  putting  sacrifice  into  the  background  and  incul- 
cating a  great  regard  for  animal  life. 

I.  Religious  Thought  of  the  Modern  Period. —  As 
reflected  in  and  molded  by  the  two  great  Epics,  the 
eighteen  Puranas,  and  the  Tantras,  this  presents, 
among  others,  the  following  salient  features : 

(a)  Overtopping  the  reputed  330,000,000  divinities 
there  comes  into  prominence  the  triad  of  Gods,  or  Tri- 
murti,   Brahma,    Vishnu,   Siva,   the   manifestation   of 
Brahm,  the  great  original  IT.     The  sacred  monosyl- 
lable Om,  whose  proper  utterance  is  supposed  to  bring 
incalculable  benefits,  is  made  up  of  the  letters  repre- 
senting these  three  names.     Brahma  somehow  fell  into 
disrepute,  and  Vishnu  soon  became  more  popular  than 
Siva,  especially  in  the  North. 

(b)  Another  new  and  conspicuous   feature  is  the 
doctrine  of  incarnation.     Ten  incarnations,  all  of  Vish- 
nu, are  usually  accepted.     The  seventh,  eighth,  and 
ninth  were  respectively  Rama-chandra,  the  hero  of  the 
Ramayana,  Krishna,  the  hero  of  the  Mahabharata,  in- 
cluding the   Bhagavad-glta,   and   Buddha,   cunningly 


HINDUISM  6l 

adopted  as  a  sop  to  his  followers.     The  tenth,  it  is  said, 
is  yet  to  come. 

(c)  A  third  feature  is  the  introduction  of  bhakti, 
i.  e.,  adoring  worship  of  divinity,  as  an  alternative 
"  path  "  to  deliverance  from  re-births,  thus  adding  the 
bhakti-marg  to  the  jfiana  of  the  Philosophic  and  the 
karma  of  the  Brahmanic  period.    The  most  popular  ob- 
ject of  this  bhakti  was  Krishna;  it  is  in  the  Bhagavad- 
gita  that  bhakti  first  appears,  and  it  was  partly  at 
least  owing  to  the  evil  character  of  that  incarnation 
that  a  thought  so  true  soon  became  low  and  gross. 

(d)  A  fourth  feature  of  this  period  is  the  idea  — 
which  Dr.   Mitchell  traces  to  200  B.  C. —  of  sacred 
places,  especially  rivers,  and  of  pilgrimages  thereto. 
First  the  Indus,  then  the  Sarasvati,  then  the  Ganges; 
among  cities,  Prayaga   (Allahabad),  Kasi  (Benares), 
Dvarika,  Bindraban.     These  are  a  few  of  the  hundreds 
of  tirthas  —  sacred  places  —  which  gradually  came  into 
prominence  as  merit-bestowing  points  of  pilgrimage. 

(e)  One    other    characteristic    demands    reluctant 
notice,  the  Sakti-worship  of  the  Tantras.     Sakti  means 
power,  the  power  of  the  gods,  personalized  as  the  wives 
of  the  gods,  especially  of  the  great  Triad.     The  rites 
connected   with   this   worship,    especially   among   the 
"  left-hand  "  devotees,  are  obscene  and  horrible  beyond 
belief. 

2.  Hinduism's  Lack  of  Unity. —  It  must  not,  of 
course,  be  understood  that  all  these  features  of  modern 
Hinduism  are  to  be  found  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
nor  all  of  them  in  any  one  part  of  the  country.  All 
that  can  be  said  is  that  these  are  points  of  Hinduism 
that  are  conspicuous  in  some  part  or  other  of  the  coun- 
try to-day.  The  fact  is  that  there  is  no  unity  of  faith 


62  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

and  practice,  not  even  uniformity.  Dr.  Mitchell  well 
says  ("  Hinduism,"  p.  166)  : 

"  As  to  belief,  Hinduism  includes  a  quasi-monothe- 
ism,  pantheism,  polytheism,  polydemonism,  and  athe- 
ism, or  at  least  agnosticism.  As  to  worship,  it  in- 
cludes meditation  on  Brahm,  the  One,  the  All  — 
without  external  rites  or  mental  homage  —  image- 
worship,  fetich-worship,  ghost-worship,  and  demon- 
worship.  But,  again,  a  man  may  be  a  good  Hindu, 
who  avows  no  belief  at  all,  provided  he  pays  respect  to 
Brahmans,  does  no  injury  to  cows,  and  observes  with 
scrupulous  care  the  rules  and  customs  of  his  caste." 
This  may  well  be  supplemented  by  a  quotation  from 
Guru  Prasad  Sen's  "  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Hin- 
duism," pp.  2,  3 :  "  Hinduism  is  not,  and  has  never 
been,  a  religious  organization.  It  is  a  pure  social  sys- 
tem, imposing  on  those  who  are  Hindus  the  observance 
of  certain  social  forms,  and  not  the  profession  of  par- 
ticular religious  beliefs.  It  is  perfectly  optional  with  a 
Hindu  to  choose  from  any  one  of  the  different  religious 
creeds  with  which  the  Sastras  abound;  he  may  choose 
to  have  a  faith  and  a  creed,  if  he  wants  a  creed,  or  to 
do  without  one.  He  may  be  an  atheist,  a  deist,  a  mon- 
otheist,  or  a  polytheist,  a  believer  in  the  Vedas  or  Sas- 
tras, or  a  sceptic  as  regards  their  authority;  and  his 
position  as  a  Hindu  cannot  be  questioned  by  anybody 
because  of  his  beliefs  or  unbeliefs,  so  long  as  he  con- 
forms to  social  rules." 

3.  Pantheism,  Idolatry,  Caste. —  It  is  difficult  to  find 
any  two  authorities,  especially  any  two  Hindu  authori- 
ties, who  agree  in  their  statement  of  the  essential  fea- 
tures of  Hinduism.  Not  only  has  it  been  constantly 
changing  through  the  centuries,  as  already  indicated, 


HINDUISM  63 

but  at  no  time  has  it  been  the  same  in  different  parts 
of  India,  nor  even  self-consistent  in  any  one  part.  Yet 
two  general  trends  of  religious  thought  —  not  infre- 
quently found,  strangely  enough,  in  the  same  person 
—  may  be  traced.  Among  the  more  intelligent,  on  the 
one  hand,  the  pantheistic  philosophy  of  the  Upani- 
shads,  especially  the  Vedanta  philosophy,  is  uppermost, 
with  a  constant  tendency  to  develop  in  one  of  three 
directions,  toward  pantheism,  toward  agnosticism,  or 
toward  theism.  Among  the  ignorant  masses,  on  the 
other  hand,  polytheism  is  uppermost,  with  an  invari- 
able pantheistic  background.  Pantheism,  with  its 
corollary  in  the  transmigration  of  souls,  is  thus  com- 
mon to  all.  As  common  is  idolatry,  at  least  the  ten- 
dency toward  it  and  apology  for  it.  Pantheism  then 
as  a  creed,  grossest  idolatry  as  the  commonest  expres- 
sion of  the  religious  instinct,  and  caste  as  a  social  sys- 
tem, constitute  the  real  triad  of  Hinduism  today. 

On  the  last  number  of  this  triad,  namely  caste,  a  few 
additional  words  are  necessary.  This  was  beyond 
doubt  primarily  a  matter  of  race  —  as  hinted  at  in  the 
original  word  for  caste,  varna,  color.  The  Aryans, 
after  their  invasion  of  India,  separated  themselves  from 
the  despised  non-Aryans  and  from  those  of  mixed 
parentage.  At  the  same  time  they  divided  themselves 
according  to  their  occupations,  which  naturally  all 
tended  to  become  hereditary.  Priests  or  Brahmans, 
warriors  or  Kshatriyas,  and  traders  and  agriculturists, 
or  Vaisyas,  formed  each  their  own  caste.  To  the  non- 
Aryans,  who  made  up  the  Sudra  caste,  were  left  all  the 
forms  of  menial  service.  Beneath  all  these  are  the 
casteless,  called  variously  in  different  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, Pariahs,  Mihtars,  Chuhras,  etc.  Not  only  their 


64  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

touch,  but  even  contact  with  their  shadow,  is  counted 
a  pollution  by  those  in  caste.  They  have  no  social  or 
religious  rights  that  anybody  is  bound  to  respect,  and 
their  degradation  is  almost  worse  than  slavery.1  All 
of  the  four  castes  are  formed  into  many  subdivisions. 
There  are  said  to  be  1,866  sub-castes  among  the  Brah- 
mans  alone,  and  the  lower  castes  are  still  more  com- 
plex —  and  even  the  Outcastes  have  their  own  distinc- 
tions, as  binding  among  themselves  as  those  in  the 
higher  classes. 

4.  Hinduistn  a  Religion  of  Fear. —  No  one  can  fail 
to  be  impressed  with  the  omnipresence  of  the  religious 
touch,  not  only  in  the  endless  intricacies  of  caste  rules, 
but  in  almost  every  detail  of  the  daily  life  of  the  peo- 
ple. They  eat  religiously,  bathe  religiously,  dress  re- 
ligiously, and  often  even  sin  religiously.  In  every  as- 
pect of  the  religious  life  two  elements  are  rarely 
lacking,  the  first  that  of  fear.  Hinduism  is  conspicu- 
ously a  religion  of  fear  rather  than  of  hope.  An  ever- 
present  thought  is  that  of  keeping  the  gods  from  work- 
ing one  harm,  physical  rather  than  spiritual.  They  are 
capricious,  vindictive,  often  malevolent;  the  one  great 
thing  is  to  keep  on  the  right  side  of  them,  even  by  trick- 
ery. A  girl  was  found  studying  in  a  boys'  school  one 
day.  Remonstrated  with,  the  teacher  replied  in  a  sub- 
dued tone :  "  That  is  not  a  girl,  Sahib !  The  first  boy 
in  that  home  was  taken  by  the  small-pox  goddess,  so  the 
parents  have  dressed  this  one  in  girl's  clothes  and  call 

1  The  writer  heard  not  long  ago  of  a  man  in  the  slums  who 
had  sunk  so  low  that  he  "  had  to  reach  up  to  touch  bottom  " ! 
A  more  accurate  description  of  the  situation  of  the  non-caste 
people  can  hardly  be  conceived! 


HINDUISM  65 

him  by  a  girl's  name  to  deceive  the  goddess.     She  will 
never  think  it  worth  while  to  carry  off  a  girl!" 

5.  Power  of  Custom. —  Almost  as  potent  as  fear  in 
the  religious  life  is  the  regard  for  custom,  "  dastur." 
For  the  existence  of  a  thousand  practices  the  only  rea- 
son which  one  can  extract  from  the  average  man  is 
that  they  have  come  down  through  the  ages.     "  Every- 
body has  always  done  it,  and  " —  with  a  shrug  of  the 
shoulders  — "  why  should  not  we?  " 

6.  Merit-making. —  One  other  tremendously   effec- 
tive motive  of  action  must  receive  passing  notice,  the 
desire    to    make    merit,     "  punya."     Brahmans     are 
feasted,  pilgrimages  are  undertaken,  beggars  are  fed, 
all  to  amass  merit.     It  is  hoped  that  the  fund  may  be 
drawn  upon  in  this  life,  if  not,  in  those  to  come;  and 
finally  in  the  cutting  off  of  the  dreaded  re-births. 

III.  Reform  Movements. — No  outline  of  present- 
day  Hinduism  would  be  complete  without  some  men- 
tion of  reform  movements,  of  which  three  are  espe- 
cially worthy  of  note. 

i.  Brahma  Sarnaj. —  Its  founder  was  Ram  Mohan 
Roy,  a  Brahman  of  Bengal,  who  largely  through  con- 
tact with  Christianity  reached  a  definitely  theistic  be- 
lief, and  in  1830  opened  the  first  Hindu  Theistic 
Church.  The  most  prominent  of  his  associates  or  suc- 
cessors have  been  Debendra  Nath  Tagore,  Keshab 
Chandar  Sen,. and  P.  C.  Mozumdar.  It  is  not  easy  to 
state  accurately  the  features  of  the  Brahma  faith,  part- 
ly because  it  is  broken  up  into  various  sub-divisions  op- 
posed to  one  another,  and  partly  because  the  state- 
ments of  its  leaders  have  been  far  from  definite.  In 
general  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  a  theistic  eclecticism, 
assuming  the  truth  of  all  religions,  though  giving  the 


66  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

highest  place  to  Christianity  and  Christ.  It  has  com- 
paratively few  adherents, —  only  4,000  in  the  census  of 
1901, —  but  among  them  have  been  a  number  of  men 
of  large  influence,  who  have  done  much  for  the  social 
and  moral  advancement  of  their  countrymen. 

2.  The  Arya  Samaf. —  This  is  radically  different 
from  the  preceding,  being  a  movement  started  in  1863 
and  formally  organized  in  1875  by  Dayanand  Saras- 
vatl,  a  Brahman  from  Kathiawar,  whose  main  activi- 
ties, however,  were  confined  to  northern  India.  The 
leading  tenets  of  the  sect  are:  (a)  Only  the  Samhita 
and  the  four  Vedas  are  inspired;  (b)  there  are  three 
eternal  substances,  God,  Spirit,  and  Matter;  (c)  a 
soul  is  incorporeally  and  always  perfectly  distinct  from 
God;  (d)  the  soul  is  subject  to  re-birth  in  human  or 
animal  or  vegetable  form;  (e)  "  Salvation  is  the  state 
of  emancipation  from  pain  and  from  subjection  to 
birth  and  death,  and  of  life,  liberty,  and  happiness  in 
the  immensity  of  God."  The  Arya  Samaj  is  theoreti- 
cally opposed  to  the  caste  system,  to  idolatry,  to  child- 
marriage,  and  to  pilgrimages.  Unfortunately,  the  op- 
position in  most  cases  is  theoretical  only.  Its  positive 
weaknesses  are  that  it  is  deistic  rather  than  theistic ;  it 
is  utterly  illogical  and  vulnerable  in  its  interpretation 
of  the  Vedas ;  and  the  spirit  of  its  adherents  has  been 
narrow,  bigoted,  and  bitter  in  the  last  degree.  They 
have  devoted  themselves  to  attacks  upon  Christianity 
rather  than  upon  the  errors  of  the  Hinduism  which 
they  profess  to  reform,  appealing  to  the  national  and 
religious  pride  of  the  Hindu  and  requiring  no  real  sur- 
render of  caste  and  of  religious  custom,  while  yet  mak- 
ing a  show  of  reform  and  enlightenment.  The  move- 


HINDUISM  67 

ment  has  attracted  many  followers  and  is  one  of  the 
forces  to  be  reckoned  with  in  India  to-day. 

3.  Theoso'phy. —  This  may  perhaps  be  best  described 
as  Hindu  pantheism  up-to-date.  Its  prototype  is  the 
Yoga  system,  which  differs  from  the  Vedanta  mainly 
in  this,  that  the  latter  rejects  the  external  universe  as 
illusion  (maya),  while  the  former  regards  it  as  the 
manifestation  of  the  universal  soul,  just  as  the  body 
is  the  manifestation  of  the  individual  soul.  The  goal 
of  the  theosophist  is  the  apprehension  of  the  identity 
of  the  individual  self  with  the  World-Self.  Transmi- 
gration of  souls  is  one  of  its  corollaries.  To  its  modi- 
fied Yoga  system  it  has  added  a  curious  combination  of 
the  theory  of  evolution  and  an  adaptation  of  the  Chris- 
tian doctrines  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  brother- 
hood of  man.  Doubt  as  to  the  reality  or  permanence 
of  this  reform,  if  reform  it  can  be  called,  is  deepened 
by  the  fact  that  the  writings  of  the  discredited  Madame 
Blavatsky  are  accepted  as  a  part  of  the  authoritative 
basis  of  its  creed. 

IV.  The  Strength  and  the  Weakness  of  Hindu- 
ism.— i.  Strength. — The  fair-minded  student  is  anx- 
ious to  find  out  the  good  points  in  Hinduism.  His 
task  is  not  altogether  an  easy  one.  A  friendly  writer 
of  prominence  has  stated  that  the  two  great  contribu- 
tions of  Hinduism  to  the  body  of  universal  truth  are 
the  solidarity  of  man  and  the  "  omni-penetrativeness  " 
of  God,  both  being  the  fruit  of  pantheistic  thought. 
Man  is  one  because  he  is  really  one  with  God.  God  is 
"  omni-penetrative  "  because  all  that  is  is  God.  While 
it  may  be  true  that  there  is  something  suggestive  in 
these  thoughts,  yet  practically  the  effectiveness  of  the 
one  has  been  destroyed  by  the  tyrannical  exclusiveness 


68  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

of  the  caste  system,  and  the  other  has  found  its  logical 
outcome  in  idolatry  of  grossest  form.  Perhaps  a  fairer 
statement  of  the  best  points  in  Hinduism  would  empha- 
size the  following:  (a)  Its  teaching  concerning  the 
sanctity  of  life;  (b)  its  fruitfulness  in  the  line  of  the 
passive  virtues  of  patience,  gentleness,  submissiveness ; 
(c)  its  introduction  of  religion  into  the  common  things 
of  life.  A  large  part  of  its  strength  lies  in  its  hoary 
antiquity;  in  its  tremendous  hold  upon  the  people, 
through  priestly  domination  and  the  caste  system ;  and 
in  the  laxness  of  its  moral  standards,  which  make  it 
possible  for  a  man  to  conform  to  religious  standards 
and  yet  be  personally  evil  in  thought  and  life.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  that  these  very  points  of 
strength  are  its  real  weakness. 

2.  Its  Weaknesses. —  The  great  evils  lying  in  the 
system  seem  to  call  for  a  little  more  definite  statement. 
Pantheism  is  responsible  for  most  of  them,  (a)  It  has 
robbed  man  of  a  personal  God.  Since  God  is  the  all 
and  all  is  God,  there  is  no  possibility  of  a  personal 
God  who  can  be  approached  and  trusted  and  loved. 

(b)  It  has  robbed  man  of  conscience.     Sin,  like  all 
other  phenomena,  must,  if  God  is  all,  be  either  a  mode 
of  the  Divine  manifestation  or  else  illusion.     In  either 
case  it  is  nothing  to  be  troubled  about.     The  very  dis- 
tinction between  right  and  wrong  is  obliterated. 

(c)  It  has  robbed  man  of  all  true  sense  of  the  free- 
dom of  the  will.     One  of  its  corollaries  is  the  doctrine 
of  the  transmigration  of  souls,  with  the  inexorable  out- 
working of  Karma,  the  deeds  of  previous  existences. 
Practical  fatalism  is  its  result.     Man  ceases  to  be  a  free 
moral  agent,  because  he  is  in  the  remorseless  grasp  of 
Karma.     He  is  what  he  is  because  he  was  what  he  was. 


HINDUISM  69 

He  was  what  he  was  because  he  had  been  what  he  had 
been.     His  Karma  is  his  fate. 

(d)  It  has  led  him  into  grossest  idolatry.     Idolatry 
is  an  even  more  necessary  corollary  of  pantheism  than 
is  the  transmigration  of  souls.    Since  all  is  God,  man  is 
perfectly  right  in  worshipping  anything.     Apologists 
have  tried  to  prove  that  Hindus  do  not  worship  the  in- 
animate objects  but  only  God  through  them.     Practical 
experience  does  not  warrant  this  notion.     Unfortunate- 
ly even  the  most  advanced  Hindus  are  disposed  to 
apologize  for  idolatry  as  a  sort  of  religious  kindergar- 
ten.    The  obvious  answer  to  this  is  that  idolatry  has 
never  elevated  itself  or  its  devotees ;  it  has  always  de- 
generated ;  it  has  always  carried  its  worshippers  to  low- 
er depths. 

(e)  Whether  pantheism,  with  its  identification  of 
even  the  grossest  evil  with  God,  be  responsible,   or 
whether  the  present  situation  be  a  legacy  from  aborigi- 
nal cults,  the  fact  is  that  in  many  phases  of  Hinduism 
lust  is  enthroned.     The  gods  themselves  are  immoral ; 
so  are  the  incarnations,  Krishna  especially.     There  is 
no  need  to  descend  to  Tantric  worship,  the  publication 
of  the  details  of  which  would  be  rendered  impossible 
by  the  laws  for  the  suppression  of  obscene  literature. 
A  few  of  the  most  notorious  facts  may  in  passing  be 
alluded  to :  such  as  the  religious  prostitution  connected 
with  many  holy  places ;  the  little  girls  married  to  the 
god  Kandhoba  and  devoted  to  evil  lives ;  the  unspeak- 
able   foulnesses   connected   with   the   Holi,   the   most 
popular  of  Hindu  religious  festivals,  and  the  all  but 
universal  worship  of  the  linga.1 

1  Membrum  virile. 


J7O  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

(f)  The  caste  system  has  been  too  often  spoken  of 
to  need  anything  but  passing  mention.     It  destroys 
social  life.     It  cramps  industry.     It  makes  broad  sym- 
pathy impossible,  and  it  engenders  a  spirit  of  pride  and 
tyranny  which  is  almost  inconceivable.     In  a  recent 
address  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda,  himself  of  course  a 
Hindu,  says  of  caste,  among  other  things :    "  Its  evils 
cover  the  whole  range  of  social  life.     ...     It  in- 
tensifies local  dissensions  and  renders  the  country  dis- 
united  and   incapable   of   improving   its    defects.     It 
robs  us  of  our  humanity  by  insisting  on  the  degrada- 
tion of  some  of  our  fellowmen,  who  are  separated  from 
us  by  no  more  than  accident  of  birth.     It  prevents 
noble  and  charitable  impulses ;  it  is  a  steady  enemy  to 
all  reform."    The  not  uncommon  suggestion  that  social 
distinctions  in  other  lands  are  not  unlike  caste  distinc- 
tions is  simply  preposterous. 

(g)  Hinduism  has  placed  woman  in  a  position  of 
litter  degradation.     Whatever  she  may  have  been  in 
Vedic  times,  she  is  now  the  slave  or  the  toy  of  man. 
Pandita  Ramabai 1  thus  sums  up  the  duty  of  the  Hindu 
married  woman :     "  To  look  upon  her  husband  as  a 
god,  to  hope  for  salvation  only  through  him,  to  be 
obedient  to  him  in  all  things,  never  to  covet  independ- 
ence, never  to  do  anything  but  that  which  is  approved 
by  law  and  custom."     And  she  well  quotes  in  proof 
from  the  great   law-giver,   Manu    (Manu,   v.    154), 
"  Though  destitute  of  virtue,  or  seeking  pleasure  else- 
where, or  devoid  of  all  good  qualities,  yet  a  husband 
must  be  constantly  worshipped  as  a  god  by  a  faithful 
wife."     Of  Hindu  widowhood  little  need  be  said.    The 

1 "  The  High-Caste  Hindu  Woman,"  p.  58. 


HINDUISM  71 

wife's  condition,  however  low,  is  a  paradise  in  com- 
parison, unless  indeed  the  widow  be  the  mother  of 
sons.  Says  the  Gaekwar  in  the  address  already  allud- 
ed to :  "  We  suppress  our  feelings  of  humanity  and 
affection  and  inflict  severities  on  widows  to  keep  their 
vitality  low  and  make  them  less  attractive.  In  spite  of 
our  harsh  measures  we  fail  to  preserve  even  the  ordi- 
nary standard  of  morality  in  this  much  ill-treated 
class." 

V.  How  Best  Approach  the  People  in  Present- 
ing the  Truth? — It  is  but  a  truism  to  say  that  the 
spirit  of  the  missionary  must  above  all  be  the  spirit  of 
love.  He  is  not  on  the  field  for  the  purpose  of  gaining 
the  mastery,  but  in  order  to  win  men  to  Christ.  He  is 
the  messenger  of  the  God  who  is  love,  and  any  spirit 
inconsistent  with  such  a  mission  must  inevitably  bring 
disaster.  It  would  seem  scarcely  necessary  to  say  this, 
were  it  not  that  practically  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to 
be  gentle  and  loving  and  tender,  and  at  the  same  time 
be  firm  and  true. 

i.  Conciliation  without  Compromise. — The  first 
difficulty  is  to  present  the  truth  forcefully  and  ade- 
quately, and  yet  to  present  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  avoid 
arousing  prejudice.  In  this  regard  the  position  to  be 
taken  by  the  missionary  may  perhaps  best  be  stated  as 
that  of  conciliation  without  compromise.  The  salient 
features  of  the  truth  must  be  presented.  None  of  the 
cardinal  doctrines  of  our  faith  must  be  obscured. 
There  can  be  no  compromise,  for  compromise  always 
means  weakness.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  those  as- 
pects of  the  truth  which  arouse  antagonism  may  well 
be  kept  to  the  last;  and  all  truth  must  be  presented, 
as  far  as  possible,  from  a  favorable  viewpoint.  An 


72  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

admirable  illustration  of  the  wisest  method  is  to  be 
found  in  St.  Peter's  speech  on  the  day  of  Pentecost 
when  he  begins  by  speaking  of  our  Lord  as  a  "  man 
approved  of  God  "  and  yet  so  carries  his  argument 
through,  that  he  is  able  to  close  his  address  with  these 
words,  "Let  all  the  house  of  Israel  therefore  know 
assuredly  that  God  hath  made  him  both  Lord  and 
Christ."  There  are  so  many  points  of  contact  between 
Hinduism  and  Christianity  that  it  is  comparatively  easy 
to  start  from  that  which  the  Hindu  admits.  For  in- 
stance, sacrifice,  and  even  vicarious  sacrifice,  is  to  him 
a  perfectly  familiar  idea.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing 
in  case  of  serious  illness  for  the  friends  of  the  sick  one 
to  offer  a  goat  as  a  sacrifice,  beseeching  the  divinity  re- 
garded as  the  cause  of  that  particular  disease  to  accept 
this  offering  in  place  of  the  intended  victim.  An 
illustration  of  that  sort  leads  naturally  by  way  of  Old 
Testament  ritual  up  to  the  cross  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Incarnation  is  a  familiar  doctrine.  It  is  not  a  difficult 
matter,  starting  with  Krishna  or  Ram,  to  lead  up  to 
the  true  incarnation.  Indeed,  no  preacher  could  ask 
for  a  better  text  than  that  found  in  the  expected  tenth 
incarnation  of  Vishnu,  of  whom  the  Puranas  say  that 
he  is  to  be  a  sinless  incarnation,  in  significant  distinc- 
tion from  all  who  have  preceded  him,  is  to  be  born 
of  a  virgin,  and  is  to  come  riding  on  a  white  horse  to 
destroy  all  the  wicked  with  the  great  sword  which  he 
wields.  Many  a  time  has  the  writer  of  this  chapter, 
starting  with  this  story,  told  a  Hindu  audience  how 
true  was  their  prophecy  and  yet  how  confusing;  as- 
suring them  that  the  Sinless  Incarnation  had  already 
come,  born  of  the  virgin  in  Bethlehem  almost  2,000 
years  ago;  that  He  was  indeed  to  come  again  on  the 


HINDUISM  73 

white  horse,  wielding  the  sword  that  was  to  destroy 
the  wicked ;  but  that  His  first  coming  had  been  for  the 
salvation  and  not  for  the  destruction  of  sinners  and 
that  all  who  believe  in  Him  might  be  saved  from  the 
judgment  which  was  to  follow  His  second  coming. 
The  fact  is  that  with  the  many-sidedness  and  vague- 
ness of  Hinduism,  the  difficulty  is  not  more  to  avoid 
arousing  antagonism  than  to  avoid  securing  a  super- 
ficial and  meaningless  assent.  One  great  point  is  to 
catch  and  hold  attention  by  means  of  familiar  illustra- 
tions. These,  however,  must  be  used  with  caution; 
because  the  Oriental  mind  seems  to  regard  an  illus- 
tration as  an  argument,  and  if  your  illustration  can 
be  turned  against  you,  your  opponent  feels  that  he  has 
practically  answered  your  argument. 

Starting  then  with  accepted  doctrine  and  using  illus- 
trations taken  from  things  familiar,  the  preacher's 
great  purpose  is  to  show  how  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus  includes  the  doctrine  that  was  made  a  starting 
point,  and  not  only  meets  man's  uttermost  need,  but 
squares  with  the  character  of  a  holy  God. 

2.  Christian  Self-control. —  The  second  difficulty  is 
a  personal  and  practical  one.  How  is  the  missionary 
to  keep  his  own  spirit  gentle  and  winsome  under  the 
attacks  of  interrupting  opponents  ?  He  will  be  met  by 
blasphemous  reflections  upon  the  character  of  Christ 
and  gross  perversions  of  whatever  truth  he  is  trying 
to  present,  and  often  by  absolutely  irrelevant  objec- 
tions, introduced  purely  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
the  effect  of  the  address.  The  missionary  needs  to  be 
constantly  on  his  guard,  constantly  in  prayer,  con- 
stantly reminding  himself  that  it  is  more  important  to 
win  men  than  to  confute  them.  In  spite  of  all  his 


74  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

efforts  he  will  often  fail,  and  the  best  thing  he  can  do 
is  frankly  to  acknowledge  the  wrong.  The  writer  re- 
members one  of  not  a  few  such  experiences  when  hav- 
ing lost  his  temper  at  a  preaching  station  in  the  great 
religious  fair  at  Allahabad,  he  stopped  his  address 
and  to  the  astonishment  of  the  crowd  and  the  all  but 
consternation  of  the  Arya  objector  apologized  to  him 
for  his  lack  of  the  Master's  spirit.  The  young  Arya 
was  so  impressed  by  this  experience  that  the  very  next 
evening  he  was  found  in  the  church  in  the  city  and 
became  a  regular  attendant  at  the  nightly  services. 
No  one  who  has  not  passed  through  the  experience  can 
understand  how  severe  the  provocation  often  is,  and 
how  great  is  the  need  for  constant  prayer  that  the  spirit 
of  Christ  may  be  exemplified  in  our  preaching  and  in 
our  lives. 

VI.  How  shall  Objections  be  Met  and  Weak- 
nesses Pointed  out? — i.  Polite  Insincerity. —  When 
we  come  to  the  question  of  objections  urged  against 
Christianity  the  situation  is  a  somewhat  difficult  one, 
because  the  commonest  attitude  is,  as  already  hinted, 
one  of  easy-going  acquiescence.  It  is  hard  to  know 
what  to  say  when  the  audience  cordially  approves  of 
everything  that  one  says  and  is  outspoken  in  its  as- 
sent; but  when  this  only  means  that  there  is  a  will- 
ingness to  add  Christ  to  the  endless  list  in  the  Hindu 
pantheon,  or  else  means  merely  the  polite  insin- 
cerity of  the  Oriental,  the  missionary  is  compelled 
to  meet  the  situation  by  urging  the  exclusiveness  of 
the  claims  of  Christ.  He  must  quote,  "  No  man 
cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me,"  and  "  There  is 
none  other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men." 


HINDUISM  /5 

2.  Christianity  Regarded  as  Illiberal. —  These  texts 
are  apt  to  bring  a  plausible  arraignment  of  Christiani- 
ty as  being  so  much  more  narrow  and  illiberal  than 
Hinduism.     This  situation  can  only  be  met  by  urging, 
on  the  one  hand,  that  loyalty  to  the  truth  is  more  im- 
portant than  liberality,  and,  on  the  other,  by  using 
some  illustration  which  will  appeal  to  the  spirit  of  cau- 
tion  and   self-preservation.     You   may,    for  instance, 
say  that  if  a  passenger  starting  for  Rangoon  from 
Calcutta  were  to  find  two  lines  of  boats  professedly 
sailing  for  that  point  and  were  to  hear  from  the  agents 
of  one  that  it  really  did  not  make  any  difference  which 
line  you  took,  each  was  good  in  its  way,  and  from  the 
agent  of  the  other  that  the  one  line  was  absolutely 
unseaworthy  and  the  other  was  the  only  one  that  could 
reach   Rangoon,    the   thoughtful,   cautious   passenger 
would  throw  his  spirit  of  liberality  to  the  winds  and 
inevitably  select  the  line  which  on  either  testimony  was 
safe  and  sure.     Hinduism  says  that  all  religions  are 
sure  and  lead  to  a  safe  haven.     Christ  claims  to  be 
the  only  way.     The  mere  spirit  of  self-preservation 
ought  to  lead  to  Christ. 

3.  A  Mediator  Needless. — Another  difficulty  that  is 
sometimes  raised,  though  obviously  illogical  from  the 
standpoint  of  the   worshippers   of  myriads  of  lesser 
gods  and  godlings,  is  that  when  there  is  a  God  to 
whom  we  can  go  direct,  there  is  no  need  of  an  inter- 
mediary, or  mediator.     An  objector  once  put  it  thus : 
"  When  we  can  get  at  a  tree  itself,  what  is  the  use  of 
introducing  branches  ?  "    To  which  the  answer  imme- 
diately suggested  itself,  moving  along  the  line  of  the 
Oriental's  attitude  toward  illustrations  already  alluded 
to,  that  if  the  tree  were  tall  and  its  trunk  smooth  the 


76  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

best  way  to  climb  it  would  be  by  the  help  of  a  down- 
reaching  branch.  The  turning  of  the  illustration 
would  of  course  need  to  be  followed  by  a  simple  pre- 
sentation of  the  truth  that  if  we  were  sinless  there 
would  be  no  necessity  for  a  mediator;  but  that  sin 
having  come  between  us  and  God  there  was  needed 
one  who  would  undertake  the  great  work  of  reconcilia- 
tion. 

In  much  the  same  line  is  the  common  objection  that, 
assuming  the  need  of  intermediaries,  each  nation  has 
its  own,  and  that  while  Christ  is  obviously  the  right 
instrumentality  for  European  lands,  yet  Ram  or  Krish- 
na is  clearly  the  Savior  for  the  East.  Two  lines  of 
response  suggests  themselves.  God  is  one;  to  which 
even  the  Hindu  will  give  his  consent,  not  from  mere 
politeness,  but  from  a  significant  and  rarely  absent  un- 
derlying conviction  of  a  supreme  God.  Not  only  is 
God  one,  but  the  situation  raised  by  sin  is  an  unspeak- 
ably awful  one.  The  very  law  of  economy  demands 
that  the  supreme  instrumentality  for  the  relief  of  men's 
need  shall  be  one  only,  and  that  that  one  shall  be  such 
a  person  as  God's  own  Son.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
always  good  to  remind  the  objector  that  Christ  was 
neither  English  nor  American.  He  was  a  true  Orien- 
tal, living  and  dying  within  the  limits  of  the  same 
continent  as  the  Hindu  himself. 

4.  The  Atonement. —  The  most  serious  objection  of 
all  is  to  the  doctrine  of  atonement.  Stated  in  its  bold- 
est form,  the  objection  is  that  it  is  wholly  unjust  and 
inconceivable  that  the  innocent  should  suffer  instead 
of,  or  even  in  behalf  of,  the  guilty.  It  is  scarcely  neces- 
sary to  say  that  this  is  not  to  be  met  by  a  qualifying 
or  paring  down  of  that  doctrine.  The  method  of 


HINDUISM  77 

meeting  the  objection  must  of  course  depend  in  some 
measure  upon  the  character  of  the  objector  and  the 
surrounding  circumstances.  In  general  the  following 
lines  may  be  helpful.  The  idea  of  sacrifice  is  practi- 
cally universal,  and  almost  everywhere  the  element  of 
vicarious  suffering  is  included  in  it.  Hinduism  itself, 
as  already  intimated,  has  not  a  few  illustrations  of  this 
expiatory  idea.  The  fact  that  such  a  method  is  not 
unjust  may  be  deduced  from  the  laws  of  suretyship 
and  of  the  obligation  of  bondsmen,  matters  perfectly 
familiar  under  British  rule  and  wholly  accepted  by  the 
people.  The  undeniable  fact  is  to  be  adduced  that 
in  nature,  which  is  another  name  for  what  God  does, 
suffering  for  one  another  is  the  commonest  thing  in 
the  world, — •  suffering  which  is  vicarious,  the  innocent 
suffering  not  only  with,  but  to  the  advantage  and  even 
relief  of  the  guilty.  The  divinity  of  Christ,  with  the 
exalted  value  that  it  gives  to  His  sufferings  in  our  be- 
half, is  to  be  urged.  The  illustration  of  the  large 
number  of  copper  coins  balanced  by  a  silver  coin  is  a 
crude  one,  to  be  sure,  but  may  often  serve  to  catch  the 
attention  and  relieve  the  difficulty  of  the  street  group 
that  refuses  to  believe  that  the  atonement  of  Christ 
could  avail  for  the  whole  world.  Finally,  it  may  be 
shown  that  while  on  the  one  hand  the  sacrifice  of  the 
Lamb  of  God  makes  atonement  for  the  sins  of  the 
world,  on  the  other  hand  it  meets  man's  moral  need  by 
both  attracting  him  to  God  and  giving  him  the  highest 
motive  for  obedience  and  holiness.  It  need  hardly  be 
added  that  with  the  constantly  varying  aspect  of  the 
objection,  constant  wisdom  is  needed  which  can  be  pro- 
vided by  no  skill  or  suggestions  of  men.  It  is  a 
blessed  relief  to  be  able  to  fall  back  upon  the  promise, 


78  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

"  It  shall  be  given  you  in  that  same  hour  what  ye  shall 
speak." 

5.  Presenting  Weaknesses. —  How  to  present  most 
wisely  the  weaknesses  and  evils  of  Hinduism  is  a 
scarcely  less  important  question.  In  general,  this  line 
of  approach  is  to  be  avoided  in  public  address,  and 
even  in  private  interviews  it  is  to  be  used  with  caution. 
To  attack  Hinduism  is  to  put  the  Hindu  on  the  defen- 
sive. You  can  hardly  fail  to  repel  him.  The  ex- 
perienced missionary  often  has  to  curb  at  this  point  the 
zeal  of  native  preachers,  especially  if  they  be  com- 
paratively recent  converts.  The  proclamation  of  the 
positive  doctrines  of  Christianity,  of  the  sinfulness  of 
sin,  of  the  love  of  God  for  sinners, —  always  a  new 
thought  to  the  Hindu, —  of  the  vicarious  atonement, 
and  of  a  future  life  of  personal  fellowship  with  God, 
will  of  itself  suggest  the  weaknesses  of  the  old  faith. 
Tirade  and  invective  are  never  in  place.  Even  in  pri- 
vate conversation,  the  exposure  of  the  evils  of  Hindu- 
ism must  be  made  in  a  spirit  of  sympathy  and  love, 
and  ever  as  wholly  secondary  to  the  positive  presenta- 
tion of  the  truth. 

VII.  How  Follow  up  the  Work? —  I.  Private  In- 
terviews.— The  allowing  of  discussion  at  the  time 
of  an  address  is  rarely  wise.  It  almost  invariably 
leads  to  confusion,  if  not  to  bitterness.  It  may  be  pos- 
sible to  talk  immediately  afterward  with  a  few  who  are 
obviously  interested  and  who  linger  to  ask  questions. 
More  often  the  best  course  is  to  invite  anyone  inter- 
ested to  visit  you  and  question  you  next  day  at  your 
own  house,  or  offer  to  visit  him  at  his  house.  If  he 
comes,  press  the  matter  above  all  of  personal  need  and 
of  Christ's  power  to  supply  that  need.  Try  to  get 


HINDUISM  79 

him  to  let  you  pray  with  him.  If  possible,  get  him  to 
pray  himself  with  you.  The  one  thing  is  to  bring  him 
into  personal  contact  with  the  Lord  Jesus. 

2.  Literature. — If  the  man  interested  can  read,  use 
literature  freely,  above  all,  the  Bible.     It  is  never  well 
to  give  away  either  tracts — except  cheap  hand-bills  — 
or  Scripture  portions  in  public ;  but  when  a  man  is  in- 
terested enough  to  come  and  see  you,  this  rule  may 
safely  be  relaxed.     Be  familiar  not  only  with  the  most 
effective  Scripture  passages,  but  with  the  most  useful 
books  and  tracts.     The  printed  page  will  say  over  and 
over  again  to  the  man  what  you  can  say  only  once;  and 
it  can  say  it  to  his  family  and  friends  as  well.     The 
writer  never  went  home  happier  from  an  evening's 
preaching  than  when  he  had  given  away  hundreds  of 
effective  hand-bills,  or  sold  a  goodly  number  of  tracts 
and  Gospels. 

3.  Prayer. —  One  other  point  need  hardly  be  em- 
phasized.    Interviews  are  to  be  followed  up  by  prayer. 
God  can  follow  where  you  cannot.     Results  are  in  His 
hands.     Pray  before  the  interview,  pray  as  you  talk, 
follow  it  up  with  prayer.     If  there  is  anything  that 
the   missionary  supremely   needs,   it  is  the   sense  of 
being  in  partnership  with  God. 


IV.  BUDDHISM  IN  SOUTHERN  ASIA 

BY  JOSIAH  NELSON  GUSHING,  D.D. 
For  Forty  Years  a  Missionary  to  Burma 


81 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

*BARROWS,  J.  H.,  editor.  The  World's  Parliament  of  Re- 
ligions (1893).  See  index  under  "Buddha,"  "Buddhism." 

BERRY,  T.  S.     Christianity  and  Buddhism   (1890). 

*BHIKSHU,  S.  A  Buddhist  Catechism  (1895).  Brief  sum- 
mary from  Buddhist  view-point. 

BIGANDET,  P.     The  Life  or  Legend  of  Gaudama  (1880). 

COCHRANE,  H.  P.    Among  the  Burmans  (1904).     Ch.  V. 

CORT.  M.  L.  Siam,  or  The  Heart  of  Farther  India  (1886). 
Chs.  XIII-XVIII. 

*  DAVIDS,  T.  W.  RHYS.  Buddhism:  Being  a  Sketch  of  the 
Life  and  Teachings  of  Gautama,  the  Buddha  (1894). 

DAVIDS,  T.  W.  RHYS.  Buddhism,  Its  History  and  Literature 
(1806). 

DODS,  M.     Mohammed,  Buddha,  and  Christ  (1878).    Lect.  III. 

ELLINWOOD,  F.  F.  Oriental  Religions  and  Christianity  (1892). 
Lect.  V. 

Encyclopaedias,  especially  "  The  Encyclopedia  of  Missions," 
under  "  Buddhism,"  "  Buddha." 

*HARDY,  R.  S.  Manual  of  Budhism  in  Its  Modern  Develop- 
ment (1880).  Especially  chs.  IX,  X. 

HOPKINS,  E.  W.  The  Religions  of  India  (1895).  Ch.  XIII; 
see  also  "  Buddhism "  in  index. 

HUNTER,  W.  W.    The  Indian  Empire  (1892).    Ch.  V. 

*KELLOGG,  S.  H.  The  Light  of  Asia  and  the  Light  of  the 
World  (1885). 

LILLIE,  A.    Buddha  and  Buddhism  (1900). 

MATHESON,  G.  The  Distinctive  Messages  of  the  Old  Religions 
(1894).  Ch.  VI. 

MENZIES,  A.    History  of  Religion    (1895).     Ch.  XX. 

*MoNiER-WiLLiAMS,  M.  Buddhism  in  Its  Connexion  with 
Brahmanism  and  Hinduism  (1890).  Especially  Lects.  II- 
VI,  XVIII. 

Non-Biblical  Systems  of  Religion  (1893).     Ch.  VIII. 

OLDENBERG,  H.  Buddha,  sein  Leben,  seine  Lehre,  seine 
Gemeinde  (1881). 

REED,  E.  A.  Primitive  Buddhism,  Its  Origin  and  Teachings 
(1896). 

*Sacred  Books  of  the  East.  Vols.  X,  XI,  XIII,  XVII,  XX, 
XXI,  XXXV,  XXXVI,  XLIX. 

*SAUSSAYE,  P.  D.  CHANTEPIE  DE  LA.  Lehrbuch  der  Religions- 
geschichte  (1897).  Bd.  I,  68-115. 

SCOTT,  A.     Buddhism  and  Christianity   (1890). 

Siam  and  Laos  as  Seen  by  Our  American  Missionaries  (1884). 
Ch.  XVII. 

*TITCOMB,  J.  H.  Short  Chapters  on  Buddhism  (1885).  In- 
teresting summary. 

*WARREN,  H.  C.    Buddhism  in  Translations  (1896). 

*  Indicate*  works  of  special  value  or  authority. 

Ba 


IV 

BUDDHISM  IN  SOUTHERN  ASIA 

1.  Introductory. — i.  Importance  of  the  Study.—- 
The  importance  of  the  study  of  Buddhism  is  evident 
in  the  fact  that  for  more  than  twenty  centuries  it  ha? 
swayed   the   destiny  of   uncounted   millions   of  men. 
Having  its  origin  in  that  portion  of  the  famous  and 
fertile  plain  of  the  Ganges  still  occupied  by  the  ancient 
cities  of  Patna    (Pataliputra),  Benares    (Kasi),  and 
Oudh  (Ayothia),  it  has  spread  in  varying  form  over 
vast    regions  of  Southern,  Central,  and  Eastern  Asia 
and  their  adjoining  islands.     A  part  of  this  Gangetic 
territory    belonged    to    Magadha,    so    celebrated    in 
Buddhist  annals,  now  known  as  Behar,  a  corruption  of 
Vihara  Land,  which  was  so  named  on  account  of  the 
great  number   of   sacred  buildings    (vihara)    erected 
for  monks  and  for  Buddhist  observances. 

2.  Two  Great  Schools  of  Buddhism.  — The  different 
phases   which   Buddhism   has   assumed   naturally   ar- 
range themselves  in  two  great  divisions,  the  Southern 
School,  also  called  the  Hlna-yana,  "  Little  Vehicle," 
and  the  Northern  School,  also  called  the  Maha-yana, 
"  Great  Vehicle."     The  Southern  School  prevails  in 
Ceylon,  Burma,  and  Siam  and  is  undoubtedly  a  much 
older  and  purer  form  of  Buddhism.     It  was  intro- 
duced  into   Ceylon   in   the   third   century    B.    C.   by 
Mahinda,  the  son  of  the  great  Buddhist  King  Asoka, 

83 


84  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

probably  before  any  essential  differences  began  to  mar 
the  uniformity  of  Buddhist  doctrine  and  practice. 
This  view  is  sustained  by  the  fact  that  sacred  buildings 
and  records  in  Ceylon  vary  little  from  what  is  pre- 
sented in  the  Pitakas. 

3.  Buddhism  and  Ancient  Cults. —  It  may  here  be 
noted  that  although  Buddhism  of  the  Southern  School 
has  established  itself  in  Ceylon,  Burma,  and  Siam,  it 
has  never  succeeded  in  driving  out  the  most  ancient 
cults  of  serpent  worship  and  spirit  worship.     While 
the  people  of  these  countries  regard  Buddhism  as  their 
religion,  the  elder  cults  are  intimately  mixed  with  it 
in  the  belief  and  daily  practices  of  the  common  peo- 
ple.    So  true  is  this  that  the  English  government  of- 
ficer in  Burma,  detailed   to  be  the  compiler  of  the 
census  of  1891,  took  the  position  in  his  chapter  on 
Buddhism  that  animism  under  a  veneering  of  Bud- 
dhism was  really  the  practical  religion  of  the  masses. 
It  must,  however,  be  acknowledged  that  the  people  of 
Burma,    Ceylon,  and  Siam  regard  Buddhism  as  their 
religion    notwithstanding    the    power    which    demon 
worship  and  other  local  superstitions  exert  over  them. 
Centuries  of  Buddhism  have  accustomed  the  people 
to  talk  of  Buddha  and  his  doctrine,  to  observe  the  re- 
ligious festivals,  to  maintain  the  Order  of  the  Yellow 
Robe,  and  thereby  to  conceal  from  the  eyes  of  the  un- 
initiated the  network  of  heterodox  ideas  and  practices 
which  lie  beneath  the  surface  of  Buddhist  forms  and 
observances.     Many  of  the  educated  monks  and  laity 
are  devout  students  of  the  sacred  books  of  the  South- 
ern School  and  strongly  deprecate  these  popular  cults 
as  heterodox. 

4.  Is  Buddhism  a  Religion?  —  In  the  consideration 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  85 

of  Buddhism  the  question  arises  whether  it  is  strictly 
a  religion.  Writers  are  accustomed  to  treat  it  as  such, 
but  in  its  primitive  form  it  lacks  important  notes  of  a 
religion  and  is  really  a  pessimistic  system  of  philoso- 
phy. It  has  moral  teaching,  but  morality  is  not  re- 
ligion. In  all  its  efforts  to  solve  the  problem  of  human 
existence  and  devise  a  way  of  deliverance  from  phy- 
sical ills  and  moral  evils,  it  has  no  idea  of  a  supreme, 
infinitely  holy,  eternal  God  and  of  man  as  a  sinful 
being  whose  duty  is  to  bring  his  moral  nature  into 
harmony  with  that  God.  Without  a  God,  without  any 
supernatural  revelation,  without  a  Savior  to  make  pos- 
sible a  real,  pure,  blissful,  eternal  deliverance  from 
sin,  without  prayer,  without  real  worship,  without 
duties  essentially  religious,  it  must  be  denied  the  name 
of  religion.  Yet  as  millions  regard  it  as  a  religion,  it 
is  desirable  to  consider  carefully  its  author,  and  its 
principles  and  doctrines. 

5.  Relation  of  Buddhism  to  Brahmanism. —  At  the 
time  of  Gautama's  birth,  Magadha  and  the  adjacent 
countries  were  under  the  sway  of  Brahmanism.  It 
was  formerly  thought  that  Gautama's  main  purpose 
was  to  be  a  great  reformer  and  to  found  a  religious 
system  which  would  be  a  protest  against  Brahmanism. 
But  studious  investigation  shows  that  there  is  no  real 
evidence  that  he  ever  intended  to  protest  against  and 
antagonize  Brahmanism  by  the  establishment  of  a  new 
religion.  He  did  indeed  reject  the  supernatural  reve- 
lation, sacerdotalism,  priestly  claims,  and  minute  ritual 
of  Brahmanism;  but  he  accepted  many  of  its  pre-ex- 
isting opinions  and  embodied  them  in  his  system,  with 
some  modifications.  The  Brahmans  believed  that  all 
personal  existence  is  an  unreality  due  to  ignorance 


86  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

and  illusion.  By  dispelling  these  the  soul  ended  its 
sufferings  and  sorrow  and  was  re-absorbed  in  Brahm, 
the  impersonal  universe.  Gautama  adopted  ignorance 
and  illusion  as  the  ground  of  human  existence.  By 
grasping  thoroughly  the  fact  of  ignorance  and  illusion 
as  the  cause  of  existence,  escape  was  made  into  the 
unconscious  calm  of  Nirvana.  The  Brahmans  held 
the  doctrine  of  metempsychosis,  which  was  founded  on 
the  principle  that  punishment  or  reward  must  in- 
evitably follow  every  act  of  a  man  and  that  his  present 
condition  is  due  to  the  result  of  the  good  or  evil  done 
in  previous  existences.  Gautama  rejected  the  idea  of 
a  soul  whose  identity  continued  through  successive  re- 
births, but  he  otherwise  adopted  this  principle  in  his 
doctrine  of  transmigration  with  its  numberless  exist- 
ences of  evil  and  suffering.  Gautama  accepted  the 
Brahmanical  doctrine  of  asceticism,  shorn  of  self-in- 
flicted penances  and  tortures,  and  made  its  principle, 
that  renunciation  of  the  world  as  evil  is  the  true  basis 
of  life,  the  foundation  of  his  principle  of  his  Order 
of  Monks,  or  Mendicants.  In  all  this  Gautama  stands 
forth  in  the  role  of  a  quiet  reformer  whose  separation 
from  his  ancestral  faith  gradually  widened  as  time 
passed. 

6.  Sources  of  Information. —  The  sources  of  in- 
formation are  the  Three  Pitakas,  or  Baskets,  accepted 
as  authentic  and  authoritative  Scriptures  by  the 
Southern  School.  There  is  not  space  for  a  critical  dis- 
cussion of  the  formation  of  the  Pitakas.  However, 
it  may  be  stated  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  Gautama 
ever  wrote  down  any  of  his  precepts,  much  less  any 
one  of  the  books  of  the  canon.  The  forty-five  years 
of  his  ministry  were  given  to  the  oral  statement  of 


BUDDHISM   IN    SOUTHERN   ASIA  87 

his  doctrine.  It  is  not  certain  how  the  present  books 
of  the  Three  Baskets,  or  Collections,  the  Sutta  Pitaka, 
the  Vinaya  Pitaka,  and  the  Abhidhamma  Pitaka  were 
collected.  The  common  Buddhist  statement  is  that 
the  canon  was  settled  at  the  First  Council  at  Rajagriha 
in  the  was,  or  Lenten  period,  immediately  following 
the  death  of  Gautama.  After  having  been  handed 
down  orally  for  about  one  hundred  years,  divisions 
arose  among  the  monks  on  account  of  relaxation  in  the 
rules,  and  the  Second  Council  assembled  at  Vesall 
where  the  rules  of  the  Sangha  were  again  set  forth 
and  confirmed.  Afterward  schismatic  schools  arose 
and  the  great  Buddhist  king  Asoka  convened  the 
Third  Council  at  Pataliputra  (Patna),  about  B.  C. 
242,  at  which  the  canon  was  again  rehearsed  and  es- 
tablished in  its  present  form.  This  statement  involves 
too  much  of  myth  to  be  accepted  in  its  entirety.  It  is 
exceedingly  doubtful  whether  the  First  Council  ever 
had  any  existence.  If  it  ever  convened,  it  could  not 
have  been  more  than  a  mere  local  gathering  to  con- 
sider some  arrangement  for  carrying  on  the  teaching 
of  Gautama  and  does  not  deserve  the  name  of  a  San- 
giti.  The  Second  Council  also  was  a  purely  local  one 
and  bears  a  very  uncertain  relation  to  the  canon. 
When,  however,  we  come  to  Asoka's  Council  we  stand 
on  firm  historical  ground.  There  is  every  appearance 
that  up  to  the  time  of  this  Council  there  had  been  a 
gradual  growth  in  the  Buddhist  canon  and  that  finality 
of  form  and  content  was  given  to  it  at  Pataliputra 
(Patna),  B.  C.  242.  The  argument  sustaining  this 
statement  requires  too  much  space  to  be  given  here. 
It  is  impossible  to  say  just  how  much  of  this  mass  of 
sacred  writings  sets  forth  the  actual  life  and  doctrine 


88  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

of  Gautama,  but  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  funda- 
mental teachings,  like  the  Four  Noble  Truths,  the 
Eightfold  Path,  the  Nidana  or  Twelve-linked  Chain 
of  Causality,  and  Nirvana  belong  to  Gautama.  The 
myth  and  fable  which  gathered  about  Gautama 
through  the  glowing  imagination  of  fervid  disciples 
is  seen  in  the  550  Jatakas,  Birth-stories,  many  of  which 
are  modifications  of  Indian  folk-lore  and  are  undoubt- 
edly of  late  growth.  However,  in  examining  Bud- 
dhism of  the  Southern  School  the  canon  must  be  taken 
as  accepted  by  its  disciples.  In  the  midst  of  all  that 
is  doubtful,  salient  events  of  Gautama's  life  rise  into 
a  clear  certainty,  like  the  Great  Renunciation,  the  En- 
lightenment, and  the  First  Sermon,  which  are  essen- 
tial to  the  understanding  of  Buddhism  itself. 

II.  Life  of  Gautama. — i.  His  Birth. — From  the 
sacred  books  we  learn  that  Gautama  was  born  as  the 
son  of  a  Sakyan  chief,  Suddhodana,  of  purest  Kshat- 
riya  race  at  Kapilavastu  in  Kosala  (modern  Oudh). 
The  traditional  date  of  his  birth,  about  B.  C.  542,  is 
doubtless  too  early  by  at  least  half  a  century.  Gau- 
tama was  a  family  name,  for  the  child  was  called 
Siddhartha,  "  the  one  who  has  accomplished  his  pur- 
pose." The  myth  of  his  incarnation  was  devised  to 
enhance  his  glory.  When  the  time  for  birth  came  he 
is  represented  as  descending  from  the  Tushita  Heaven 
in  the  form  of  a  white  elephant  —  regarded  by  the 
Buddhists  as  an  exceedingly  precious  and  auspicious 
object  —  and  entering  the  womb  of  his  mother  Maya. 
The  hermit  Asita,  informed  concerning  the  child  by 
rejoicing  divinities,  repaired  to  the  palace,  and  seeing 
him'  surrounded  by  heavenly  beings,  predicted  his 
future  arrival  at  the  glorious  state  of  Buddhahood. 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  89 

These  stories  are  too  crude  and  material  to  be  com- 
pared in  any  way  with  those  which  attend  the  birth  of 
Christ. 

2.  Youth  and  Marriage. —  Gautama  grew  up  in  the 
midst  of  the  wealth,  display,  and  pleasures  of  a  royal 
palace.  He  married  his  cousin  Yasodhara,  and  in  his 
twenty-ninth  year  he  became  the  father  of  a  son, 
Rahula.  For  a  long  time  his  mind  had  been  pondering 
on  the  ills  and  sufferings  of  human  life  and  the  duty 
of  renouncing  the  world  and  entering  upon  the  pov- 
erty, loneliness,  and  wandering  of  a  mendicant  life. 
The  legend  of  the  four  visions,  under  the  forms  of  a 
man  decrepit  with  old  age,  of  a  man  emaciated  through 
sickness,  of  a  decaying  corpse,  and  of  a  lonely  hermit, 
might  naturally  grow  up  through  the  insistent  teaching 
of  Gautama  in  regard  to  the  impermanence  of  human 
existence  as  shown  by  old  age,  sickness,  and  death,  .and 
the  only  escape  through  the  solitary  path  of  worldly 
renunciation  by  entering  the  mendicant's  life.  The 
Great  Renunciation  must  rest  upon  a  solid  basis  of 
fact.  Buddhists  regard  it  as  one  of  the  three  great 
central  events  of  Gautama's  life.  In  it  he  personally 
embodies  his  full  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  com- 
plete rupture  with  all  that  gives  pleasure  in  earthly 
existence.  Doubtless  words  of  the  Khaggavisana- 
sutta  embody  his  thought :  "  He  who  has  compas- 
sion on  his  friends  and  confidential  companions  loses 
his  own  advantage,  having  a  fettered  mind;  seeing 
this  danger  in  friendship,  let  one  wander  alone  like  a 
rhinoceros."  In  his  child  he  saw  the  strongest  fetter 
that  bound  him  to  the  world.  Further  delay  would 
be  fatal.  With  graphic  power  the  story  tells  of  the 
last  yearning  look  at  wife  and  child,  the  crushing 


go  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

down  of  intense  desire  for  one  final  clasping  of  his 
son  in  his  arms,  and  the  almost  mad  haste  with  which 
he  goes  forth  from  the  palace  to  mount  his  horse  and 
hasten  beyond  the  reach  of  father  and  friends,  and, 
divesting  himself  of  his  princely  apparel,  to  enter  upon 
the  life  of  a  wandering  mendicant. 

3.  Gives  up  Austerities. —  For  a  time  he  became  the 
disciple  of  two  philosophers,  Alara  and  Uddaka,  at 
Rajagriha,  but  their  teaching  failed  to  convince  him 
that  there  was  salvation  in  philosophy.     He  turned  to 
extreme  physical  austerities  and  mortified  the  body  till 
even,  as  the  story  runs,  he  ate  only  one  kernel  of  grain 
a  day.     After  having  fallen  one  day  in  a  swoon  to  the 
ground,  he  discarded   physical  austerities   as  useless 
and    sought    out    a    place    of    undisturbed    solitude. 
There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  general  historical 
truth  of  this  statement. 

4.  Attains      Enlightenment      and      Buddliahood. — 
In  his  solitude  he  reached  a  great  epoch  in  his  life. 
Seating  himself  under  a   banyan   tree    (ficus    relig- 
iosa),   for   forty-nine   days,   he   gave   himself   up   to 
profound  meditation,  and  at  last  attained  by  it  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  way  of  salvation.  He  passed  through 
the  stages  of  Jhana  in  spite  of  the  assaults  of  the 
tempter  Mara,  who  sought  to  deter  him  by  awakening 
the  memories  of  home,  picturing  the  carnal  delight  of 
life,  and  presenting  visions  of  an  environment  of  hor- 
rible  demons  and  monsters.     Quelling  their  tempta- 
tions, he  rose  through  the  successive  stages  of  the  re- 
maining four   "  attainments."     Blinding  illusions   of 
ignorance  and  error  disappeared,  and  the  brilliant  il- 
lumination of  the  Great  Enlightenment  filled  his  mind. 
He  had   attained   Buddhahood.     He    had   become   a 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  9] 

Buddha  (budh,  to  know),  an  Enlightened  One.  Self- 
wrought  virtue  through  countless  transmigrations 
had  achieved  deliverance  from  the  whirlpool  of  suf- 
fering existences,  and  the  goal  of  Nirvana  was  at 
hand. 

5.  Proclaims  His  Buddhahood.  — The  attainment  of 
Buddhahood  involved  the  proclamation  of  the  Enlight- 
enment.   Gautama  at  first  shrank  from  this.    Mara,  the 
Tempter,  was  the  author  of  the  evil  suggestion   to 
avoid  preaching  the  doctrine;  but  Great  Brahma  is 
represented  as  descending  from  the  heavens  and  earn- 
estly exhorting  the  hesitant  Gautama,  saying :    "  Rise 
up,  O  Spotless  One,  and  unclose  the  gates  of  Nirvana. 
Rise  up  and  look  upon  the  world  lost  in  suffering. 
Rise  up,  go  forth  and  proclaim  the  doctrine."     This 
fervid  exhortation  decided  the  mind  of  Gautama,  and 
he  unwaveringly  pursued  his  ministry  from  the  age  of 
thirty-five  years  until  his  death,  when  he  was  eighty 
years  old. 

6.  Wins  His  First  Five  Disciples. —  He  started  forth 
to  find  his  first  two  teachers,  but  they  had  died.     Hear- 
ing that  the  five  hermits  with  whom  he  associated  in 
his  ascetic  life  at  Uruvela  were  in  the  Deer  Park  at 
Benares,  he  hastened  to  meet  them.     On  the  way  he 
encountered  Upaka,  an  ascetic,  who,  seeing  the  radiant 
face  of  Gautama,  inquired  what  doctrine  he  had  dis- 
covered through  which  his  countenance  beamed  with 
such   happiness.     Gautama   answered   with    confident 
joy :     "  I  follow  no  Teacher ;  I  have  overcome  all  foes 
and  all  stains ;  I  am  superior  to  all  men  and  all  gods ;  I 
am  the  absolute  Buddha;  I  am  going  now  to  Benares 
to  set  in  motion  the  Wheel  of  the  Law  as  a  king  the 
triumphant  wheel  of  his  kingdom.     I  am  the  Con- 


92  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

queror."  Continuing  his  journey  he  met  the  five  as- 
cetics, who,  notwithstanding  their  predetermined  op- 
position and  chilly  civility,  were  soon  converted,  and 
with  himself  formed  the  first  Sangha  (Order  of 
Monks)  of  six  members.  In  the  Deer  Park  at  Benares 
Gautama  delivered  to  these  five  disciples  his  first  and 
renowned  sermon,  called  "  The  Discourse  Setting  in 
Revolution  the  Wheel  of  the  Law."  He  announced  his 
fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Four  Noble  Truths,  and 
the  Noble  Eightfold  Path,  which  will  be  considered 
later.  There  are  only  brief  personal  notices  of  Gaut- 
ama in  his  forty-five  years'  ministry.  He  was  accus- 
tomed to  itinerate  for  about  eight  months  of  the  year, 
but  the  months  of  the  rainy  season  were  spent  in  retire- 
ment, meditation,  and  the  instruction  of  his  disciples. 
On  a  hill,  Gayasisa,  he  preached  the  famous  Fire  Ser- 
mon, in  which  he  declared  that  "  everything  is  burn- 
ing," and  with  many  illustrations  represented  all  life  to 
be  flame.  Early  in  his  ministry  his  great  disciples, 
Sariputra,  Moggallana,  Ananda,  Upali,  and  Kasapa 
gathered  about  him.  His  disciples  came  largely  from 
rich  and  prosperous  families. 

7.  Closing  Period  of  His  Ministry. —  As  Gautama's 
ministry  draws  to  a  close  the  records  become  full  and 
graphic  in  their  statements,  especially  in  "  The  Book 
of  the  Great  Decease."  On  his  last  journey  to  Kusi- 
nagara,  where  he  died,  his  zeal  to  enlighten  his  dis- 
ciples in  the  truth  became  intensely  fervid.  There  is 
something  profoundly  pathetic  as  the  last  months  of  his 
long  life  are  ebbing  away  in  the  re-iteration  of  his 
gloomy  pessimistic  doctrines  of  the  only  solution  of 
the  problem  of  existence.  Near  Vesali  he  became 
seriously  ill,  and  the  favorite  disciple  Ananda,  in 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  93 

view  of  Buddha's  not  distant  demise,  begged  that 
final  instructions  should  be  given  about  the  Sangha. 
Gently,  yet  with  a  tone  of  astonishment  at  the  ap- 
parent failure  of  Ananda  to  grasp  the  fullness  of  the 
doctrine,  he  answers :  "  What,  then,  Ananda,  does  the 
Order  expect  of  me  ?  I  have  preached  the  truth  with- 
out making  any  distinction  between  exoteric  and 
esoteric  doctrine ;  for  in  respect  of  the  truth,  the 
Tathagata  has  no  such  thing  as  the  closed  fist  of  a 
teacher  who  keeps  something  back.  Surely,  should 
there  be  any  one  who  harbors  the  thought,  '  It  is  I 
who  will  lead  the  Brotherhood  ' ;  or  '  The  Order  is  de- 
pendent on  me,'  it  is  he  who  should  lay  down  instruc- 
tions in  any  matter  concerning  the  Order.  Now  the 
Tathagata  harbors  no  such  thoughts.  Why  then 
should  he  leave  instructions  in  any  manner  concerning 
the  Order  ?  I,  too,  O  Ananda,  am  now  grown  old  and 
full  of  years,  my  journey  is  drawing  to  a  close.  I 
have  reached  my  sum  of  days.  I  am  turning  eighty 
years  of  age.  And  just  as  a  worn  out  cart  can  only 
with  much  additional  care  be  made  to  move  along,  so, 
methinks,  the  body  of  Tathagata  can  only  be  kept 
going  with  much  additional  care.  .  .  .  There- 
fore, be  ye  lamps  unto  yourselves.  Betake  yourselves 
to  no  external  refuge.  Hold  fast  to  the  truth  as  a 
lamp.  Hold  as  a  refuge  to  the  truth.  Look  not  for 
refuge  to  any  one  besides  yourselves."  Later  he  an- 
nounced to  a  great  assembly  of  monks  at  Vesali  that 
his  life  would  close  at  the  end  of  three  months,  and 
concluded  his  discourse  with  these  words :  "  Behold 
now,  monks,  I  impress  it  upon  you ;  all  things  are 
subject  to  the  law  of  dissolution ;  press  on  earnestly 
to  perfection ;  soon  the  Tathagata's  final  extinction  will 


94  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

take  place;  at  the  end  of  three  months  the  Tathagata 
will  enter  on  extinction." 

8.  Gautama's  Last  Days  and  Death. —  He  then  bade 
farewell  to  Vesall  with  a  long,  parting  look,  and  jour- 
neying on,  gave  instruction  wherever  he  stopped  for 
rest.     At  Pava  a  goldsmith  named  Chunda  prepared 
and  offered  a  rich  meal  of  rice  and  pork,  which  pro- 
duced a  violent  dysentery.     Notwithstanding  his  ill- 
ness he  started  for  Kusinagara,  and  after  resting  many 
hours  by  the  river  Kukushta,  half  way  on  his  journey, 
he  at  last  reached  a  grove  of  trees  outside  that  city. 
The  hand  of  death  was  upon  him.     He  lay  down  on  a 
couch  placed  between  two  sal  trees.     He  dispatched 
a  comforting  message  to  Chunda,  begging  him  to  feel 
no  regret  at  the  result  of  his  offering,  soothed  the 
grief-stricken  Ananda  with   words   of  love  and   ap- 
proval, entered  into  a  discussion  with  the  Brahman 
Subhadra  and  converted  him,  proclaimed  that  after 
his  death  the  Law  would  be  in  his  place  as  teacher, 
and   asking  that  anyone  who  was   still  troubled  by 
doubts  would  mention  them  that  he  might   remove 
them    and    receiving    no    answer,    declared    that    all 
present  had  entered  into  The  Path,  beyond  danger  of 
return,  which  would  lead  to  Nirvana.    A  brief  silence 
followed,  and  then  the  last  words  of  this  Great  Teacfier 
fell  on  their  ears :     "  Behold,  now,  mendicants,  I  say 
to  you,  everything  that  exists  must  pass  away;  work 
out  your  own  perfection  with  diligence."     The  crema- 
tion of  the  body  followed;  and,  notwithstanding  the 
extravagance  of  statements  which  the  growth  of  legend 
has  gathered  about  the  account,  it-  was  doubtless  at- 
tended with  great  pageantry. 

9.  His  Character. —  In  this  brief  outline  of  the  prin- 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  95 

cipal  events  of  the  life  of  Gautama  there  is  the  portrait 
of  a  man  of  high  thought,  lofty  morality,  arid  virtuous 
conduct,  who  was  intensely  honest  in  his  pursuit  of 
truth,  and  fearless  and  patient  in  the  preaching  of  his 
doctrine.  But  beautiful  as  his  life  and  character  ap- 
pear, they  fall  far  short  of  the  divine  beauty  which 
shines  forth  in  the  life  and  character  of  the  Perfect 
Man,  whose  sinlessness,  lofty  self-sacrifice,  full 
knowledge  of  God  and  men,  apprehension  01  infinite 
truth,  and  revelation  of  that  truth,  are  faultless  and 
complete.  Gautama  groped  after  the  truth  and 
thought  that  he  had  found  it  in  a  one-sided  system  of 
worldly  philosophy.  Christ  knew  the  truth,  and  His 
revelation  of  it  reached  all  the  needs  and  conditions  of 
men's  natures  and  became  a  Gospel  to  them.  Gautama 
preached  a  doctrine  of  a  self-wrought  righteousness, 
difficult  of  attainment,  but  most  pleasing  to  the  pride 
of  the  human  heart.  Christ  preached  the  doctrine  of 
a  righteousness  which  comes  not  by  works,  but  by  the 
gracious  assistance  of  God  through  faith  on  our  part, 
a  doctrine  distasteful  to  the  pride  and  self-love  of 
men.  Both  led  lives  of  self-denial  and  self-abnega- 
tion, but  in  very  different  ways.  One  decried  human 
life  itself  as  valueless  and  sought  its  extinction  by  the 
severance  of  all  social  ties  in  the  seclusion  of  a  recluse ; 
the  other  exalted  human  life  as  the  precious  gift  of 
God,  whose  value  was  enhancd  by  the  service  of  God 
in  a  busy  helpfulness  of  men.  One  preached  the  vir- 
tual extinction  of  life  as  the  only  salvation  worth 
seeking;  the  other  opened  the  glory  of  the  endless, 
heavenly  life,  as  the  crown  of  man's  salvation.  Such 
is  the  unescapable  difference  when  the  portrait  of 


96  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

Gautama  in  the  Pitakas  is  placed  beside  the  portrait  of 
Christ  in  the  Gospels. 

III.  Doctrine  of  God. — i.  Gautama  Denied  a  Su- 
preme Being. —  The  doctrinal  system  of  Guatama  pre- 
sents many  things  which  are  unique.  There  is  no 
recognition  of  a  personal,  Supreme  Being;  Buddhism 
is  unquestionably  at  least  passively  atheistic.  Once 
when  Buddha  was  asked  about  a  Supreme  Being,  he 
declined  to  discuss  the  matter  as  something  beyond 
man's  cognizance,  which  should  confine  itself  to  the 
absorbing  needs  of  this  present  evil  world.  In  con- 
versation with  Alara,  a  wise  Brahman,  who  asserted 
that  the  Great  Brahma  was  a  Supreme  God,  Gautama 
declared  that  at  the  destruction  of  this  universe  at  the 
end  of  a  Kalpa,  such  a  Being  could  not  exist ;  and  that 
had  all  things  been  created  by  such  a  Being,  there 
could  have  been  no  possibility  of  evil  and  suffering, 
for  all  things  must  have  been  good.  Further  discus- 
sion was  declined  as  a  profitless  inquiry.  Guatama 
had  no  place  in  his  system  for  a  Supreme  God.  His 
teaching  began  and  ended  with  man.  Man  himself 
worked  out  his  destiny  by  his  own  power. 

2.  Substitutes  for  Deity. —  Yet  man's  need  of  an  ob- 
ject of  reverence  and  worship  and  his  tendency  to 
seek  external,  supernatural  aid,  led  to  the  elevation 
of  Gautama  into  a  kind  of  semi-deification  as  an  object 
of  worship.  The  divine  attributes  of  infinite  power, 
wisdom,  and  omniscience  were  attributed  to  him  dur- 
ing his  Buddhahood.  Since  he  no  longer  exists,  he  is 
represented  by  countless  images  wrought  in  wood,  in 
marble,  and  in  precious  metals  before  which  his  fol- 
lowers bow  in  adoration.  This  semi-deification  also 
shows  itself  in  the  acceptance  of  Buddha's  teaching  as 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  97 

infallible,  and  the  consequent  worship  of  his  Law  as 
an  embodiment  of  him  after  his  entrance  by  death 
into  Parinirvana.  Whether  intentionally  or  not, 
Gautama  gave  his  influence  to  this  end.  When  death 
was  drawing  near  he  said  to  Ananda,  "  The  truths 
and  rules  of  the  Order  which  I  have  taught  and 
preached,  let  these  be  your  Teacher,  when  I  am  gone." 
Again,  the  Safigha  or  Order,  the  entire  monastic  fra- 
ternity, comprising  all  monks  on  earth  and  holy  men 
in  all  parts  of  the  universe  who  have  not  yet  attained 
perfection,  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  collective 
unity  or  personification  of  the  body  of  true  disciples 
and  was  accorded  a  place  of  reverence.  In  this  way 
the  Buddhist  Triad,  Buddha,  the  Law,  and  the  Sangha, 
became  objects  of  adoration,  and  in  the  absence  of  a 
Supreme  God  they  were  made  to  occupy  his  place. 
These  are  the  three  refuges  in  which  the  Buddhist 
places  his  trust  and  are  expressed  in  the  three  univer- 
sally used  formulae: 

Buddham  saranam  gacchami,  "  I  take  refuge  in 
Buddha." 

Dharmam  saranam  gacchami,  "  I  take  refuge  in  the 
Law." 

Sangham  saranam  gacchami,  "  I  take  refuge  in  the 
Order." 

The  atheistic  character  of  Buddhism  brought  about 
the  dethronement  of  Brahma  and  Indra  from  the  su- 
preme seats  which  they  occupied  in  Brahmanism. 
With  a  host  of  deities  (devas)  they  were  placed  in  a 
position  inferior  to  Buddha.  In  all  their  communica- 
tions with  Buddha,  they  acknowledge  him  to  be  the 
most  superlatively  excellent  being  among  all  beings  in 
this  or  other  worlds. 


98  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

3.  Substitutes  for  True  Prayer. —  Naturally  there 
is  no  place  for  prayer  in  Buddhism.  There  is  no 
living  God  to  whom  man's  aspirations  can  rise  and 
from  whom  divine  assistance  can  be  asked.  The 
operation  of  material  laws  is  inexorable  and  is  presided 
over  by  no  Supreme  Being.  Yet  men  crave  some  form 
for  the  expression  of  the  soul's  desires.  To  meet  this 
craving,  prayer  formulae,  expressions  of  wishes  rather 
than  prayers,  have  been  composed  and  are  heard  at 
every  Buddhist  shrine.  Though  there  is  no  person  to 
answer,  it  is  fondly  hoped  that  there  is  some  subtle  law 
that  may  be  effective  in  its  operation  and  produce  the 
desired  result.  Many  times  the  question  has  been  put 
to  worshippers  on  the  spacious  platform  of  the  great 
Shwe  Dagon  pagoda,  "  Are  you  praying  to  Gautama, 
or  to  the  pagoda  ?  "  The  answer  always  is,  "  I  am 
praying  to  no  one."  "  Then  what  are  you  praying 
for  ?"  "  For  nothing,"  the  reply  comes ;  "  but  I  hope  in 
some  way,  I  know  not  how,  to  get  benefit." 

IV.  Buddhism's  Doctrine  of  the  World. — i.  No 
Creator. —  As  there  is  no  Supreme  God,  so  there  is 
no  idea  of  an  omnipotent  Creator.  The  Buddhist 
Scriptures  have  nothing  like  the  sublime  sentence 
which  opens  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  "  In  the  beginning 
God  created  the  heavens-  and  the  earth."  Sir  M. 
Monier- Williams  says  concisely :  "  Buddhism  has  no 
Creator,  creation,  no  original  germ  of  things,  no  soul 
of  the  world,  no  personal,  no  impersonal,  no  supra- 
mundane,  no  antemundane  principle."  Gautama  re- 
fused to  discuss  the  eternity  of  the  existing  universe. 
When  Malunka  asked  Buddha  whether  the  existence 
of  the  world  is  eternal  or  not  eternal,  he  made  no  reply 
because  he  thought  that  the  inquiry  tended  to  no  profit. 


BUDDHISM    IN   SOUTHERN   ASIA  99 

His  method  is  illustrated  in  questions  addressed  to 
him  in  Vacchagotta's  Fire  Sutta,  "  Do  you  hold  the 
view  that  the  world  is  eternal?"  "No."  "  That  the 
world  is  not  eternal  ?"  "  No."  "  That  it  has  an  end  ?" 
"  No."  "  That  it  has  not  an  end  ?"  "  No." 

2.  Buddhist  Cosmology. —  Yet  Buddhism  has  its 
cosmology.  As  Rhys  Davids  says,  "  Buddhism  takes 
as  its  ultimate  fact  the  existence  of  the  material  world 
and  of  conscious  beings  living  in  it."  A  universe  comes 
from  nothing  and  will  resolve  itself  into  nothing.  Pre- 
vious universes,  each  with  its  myriad  cycles  of  years, 
have  ended  in  a  great  cataclysm  of  destruction.  This 
universe,  with  its  central  mountain,  Meru,  and  its 
strange  concentric  seas,  its  ten  thousand  worlds  with 
their  attendant  heavens,  continents  of  earth,  hells,  and 
ruling  deities,  after  immense  cycles  of  time  will  dis- 
appear in  a  complete  dissolution.  A  new  universe  will 
succeed  it,  not  made  from  its  materals,  which  will 
have  ceased  to  exist,  but  rising  from  nothing,  under 
the  compelling  force  of  Karma,  that  mysterious  potent 
energy,  accumulated  in  the  existence  of  the  preceding 
universe  which  brings  an  entirely  new  universe  into 
existence. 

V.  Doctrine  of  Man. —  i.  Man  Soulless;  Skand- 
has,  Karma. —  The  teaching  of  Buddhism  in  regard  to 
man  is  perfectly  consistent  with  its  doctrine  of  the 
world.  As  there  is  no  Divine  Self,  or  Supreme  Pre- 
siding Spirit  in  the  universe,  so  there  is  no  soul 
(Atma)  in  man.  It  is  his  awful  ignorance  (Avijja) 
which  makes  a  man  think,  "  I  am."  This  idea  is  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  worst  forms  of  heresy  and  oc- 
cupies the  first  place  in  the  Three  Great  Delusions. 
It  also  has  its  place  among  the  four  Upadanas,  which 


IOO  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

are  the  cause  of  birth  and  all  the  evils  of  existence  re- 
sulting from  it.  Instead  of  a  permanent,  individual 
self,  Gautama  declared  that  all  sentient  beings  were  a 
combination  or  assemblage  of  certain  constituent  ele- 
ments or  faculties  which  do  not  constitute  a  soul  or 
self.  The  elements  are  called  Skandhas,  and  cease  to 
exist  with  death.  They  combine  at  each  birth,  dissolve 
at  each  death.  In  re-birth  there  is  the  appearance  of 
fresh  Skandhas.  The  five  Skandhas  aare:  i.  Rupa, 
"  form ;  "  2.  Vedana,  "  sensation,"  arising  from  the 
contact  of  the  five  senses  and  the  mind  with  external 
objects;  3.  Sanna,  "perception,"  or  ideas  springing 
from  the  six  kinds  of  sensation ;  4.  Sankara,  "  mental 
properties,"  or  tendencies  of  sentient  beings;  5.  Vifi- 
nana,  the  "  thought  faculty,"  combining  consciousness 
and  thinking.  The  last  is  the  nearest  to  our  idea  of 
soul  that  exists  in  the  Pitakas;  but  like  the  other 
Skandhas,  it  ceases  to  exist  when  the  body  dies. 
Though  the  Skandhas  dissolve  at  death,  Karma,  the 
potent  energy  which  is  the  resultant  of  the  merits  and 
demerits  of  the  person  deceased,  brings  into  existence 
a  new  set  of  Skandhas  in  a  new  being.  Thus  there  is 
theoretically  no  continuity  of  personal  identity,  no  re- 
birth of  the  same  soul.  It  must  be  stated,  however, 
that  many  of  the  uneducated  common  people  do  not 
understand  this  doctrine  of  the  sacred  books ;  and 
hence  they  fear  the  future,  believing  that  they  them- 
selves will  be  reborn.  Occasionally  there  is  a  per- 
son who  professes  to  remember  events  in  his  preced- 
ing existence. 

2.  Buddhism's  View  of  the  Body. —  In  Buddhism  the 
body  is  regarded  with  loathing  as  a  mass  of  corrup- 
tion, the  abode  of  evil,  the  prison-house  of  man.  The 


BUDDHISM   IN   SOUTHERN   ASIA  IOI 

Dhammapada  says :  "  Look  at  this  dressed  up  lump, 
covered  with  wounds,  joined  together,  sickly,  full  of 
many  thoughts,  which  has  no  strength,  no  hold.  This 
body  is  wasted,  full  of  sickness  and  frail;  this  heap  of 
corruption  breaks  to  pieces,  life  ends  in  death."  The 
novice,  when  invested  with  the  yellow  robe,  enumerates 
the  thirty-two  impurities  of  the  body.  The  worthless- 
ness  of  the  body  is  detailed  with  sickening  minuteness 
in  the  Vijayasutta.  It  is  considered  a  hindrance  to 
advancement  in  the  path  of  sanctification,  and  must  be 
sternly  repressed.  In  the  Sucilomasutta,  Buddha 
says :  "  Passion  and  hatred  have  their  origin  from  the 
body;  disgust,  delight,  and  horror  arise  from  the 
body;  arising  from  the  body,  doubts  vex  the  mind,  as 
boys  vex  a  crow."  The  action  of  each  sense  must  be 
watched  and  unflinchingly  crushed. 

3.  The  Consequent  Ascetic  Life. —  This  principle  of 
the  evil  character  of  the  body  and  the  exercise  of  the 
senses  underlies  the  establishment  of  a  monastic  com- 
munity in  the  Sangha.  An  ascetic  life,  with  its  com- 
plete separation  from  the  world,  is  the  only  path  for  a 
sure  advance  in  that  virtue  which  insures  Nirvana. 
The  Dhammapada  says :  "  A  wise  man  should  leave 
the  dark  state  [of  ordinary  life]  and  follow  the  bright 
state  [of  the  monk].  After  going  from  his  home  to 
a  homeless  state,  he  should,  in  his  retirement,  look 
for  enjoyment  where  there  seemed  to  be  no  enjoyment. 
Leaving  all  pleasures  behind  and  calling  nothing  his 
own,  the  wise  man  should  purge  himself  from  all  the 
troubles  of  the  mind."  So  important  is  the  repression 
of  the  body  that  the  Vinaya  gives  minute  directions 
in  regard  to  the  minimum  of  what  is  necessary  in 
dwelling,  dress,  food,  and  condiments.  The  only  road 


IO2  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

to  Nirvana  leads  through  monkhood,  for  the  monk  is 
the  only  man  in  a  position  to  shun  the  world  and  to 
seek  self-conquest  with  the  least  hindrance. 

VI.  Doctrine  of  Sin.— I.  What  Sin  Is.— The 
Buddhist  conception  of  sin  is  of  a  thought  or  act 
which  causes  suffering  and  demerit.  There  is  no  true 
idea  of  sin  as  an  offense  against  a  Supreme  Being  by 
the  transgression  of  His  holy  will.  So  Buddhist 
morality  knows  nothing  of  motive  based  on  the  love  or 
fear  of  god.  The  opposite  of  the  wicked  thought  or 
act  which  brings  suffering  and  demerit  is  the  good 
thought  or  act  which  emancipates  from  suffering  and 
obtains  merit.  Every  exhortation  to  good  deeds  and 
purity  of  thought  lies  along  the  plane  of  self-interest. 
It  is  because  this  is  forgotten  that  men  who  look  at 
Buddhist  ethics  superficially  find  so  much  seemingly  in 
common  between  Buddhism  and  Christianity  and  fail 
to  note  the  radically  different  bases  on  which  the  two 
systems  of  ethics  are  founded. 

2.  The  Ten  Fetters. —  All  forms  of  existence  are 
under  the  sway  of  Kilesa,  depravity,  and  its  accom- 
panying evil  of  demerit.  There  are  several  classifica- 
tions of  the  evil  tendencies  which  unite  or  bind  one  to 
the  round  of  existences.  The  Ten  Fetters  furnish 
an  illustration.  They  are:  I.  The  heresy  of  individ- 
uality, that  is,  the  delusion  of  believing  in  a  personal 
self;  2.  doubt,  that  is,  of  the  truth  of  Buddha's  doc- 
trine; 3.  dependence  on  ritual  practices;  4.  lust, 
bodily  passions ;  5.  anger,  ill  feeling ;  6.  desire  for 
life  [in  this  or  higher  worlds]  ;  7.  desire  for  life  in 
immaterial  form  [in  the  highest  heavens];  8.  pride; 
9.  exalted  judgment  of  self;  10.  ignorance.  Chained 
by  such  powerful  evil  principles  one  has  no  prospect  of 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  IO3 

any  immediate  deliverance  from  their  control.  Such 
a  deliverance  could  not  be  expected  until  the  ocean  of 
existences  had  been  crossed  innumerable  times; 
while  beyond  these  existences,  like  an  ignis  fatuus, 
flickers  the  illusory  light  of  Nirvana. 

3.  The  Four  Noble  Truths. —  In  his  sermon  in  the 
Deer  Park  at  Benares  Guatama  gives  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  his  system,  which  involve  his 
doctrine  of  sin  as  an  act  which  causes  suffering.  He 
states  that  the  Four  Noble  Truths  are:  I.  Suffer- 
ing, the  fact  that  existence  in  this  or  any  other  world 
inevitably  involves  pain  and  sorrow;  2.  The  cause  of 
suffering,  the  fact  that  lust  (Raga),  or  desire  (Tanha), 
is  seen  in  the  thirst  or  craving  for  sensual  pleasures, 
for  worldly  prosperity,  and  for  existence;  3.  The 
cessation  of  suffering,  the  fact  that  suffering  disap- 
pears with  the  conquest  and  extinction  of  lust  and 
desire  in  all  their  forms ;  4.  The  path  leading  to  the 
cessation  of  suffering,  perseverance  in  this  path  pro- 
ducing a  virtuous  life,  whose  consummation  is  the  de- 
struction of  all  causes  of  suffering.  Thus  suffering 
ceases  because  the  evil  principles  whose  obedience  in 
sinful  acts  produces  it,  are  overcome  by  crushing  them 
out  of  a  man's  life.  The  Dhammapada  says :  "  There 
is  no  suffering  for  him  who  has  finished  his  journey 
and  abandoned  grief,  who  has  freed  himself  on  all 
sides  and  thrown  off  all  fetters."  Suffering  as  the 
principle  of  all  life  is  thus  explained :  "  Birth  is  suf- 
fering (being  an  action  of  an  evil  Karma,  caused  by  an 
evil  pre-existence),  decay  is  sufferng;  clinging  to 
the  five  constituent  parts  of  existence  is  suffering; 
perfect  cessation  of  thirst  and  desires  is  the  cessation 
of  suffering.  This  is  the  Noble  Truth  of  Suffering." 


IO4  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

Back  of  all  this  are  the  thoughts  and  acts  of  life 
deemed  sinful  and  productive  of  suffering  because 
they  bind  to  this  life  and  keep  men  from  the  Middle 
Path  by  which  they  can  reach  the  final  emancipation 
and  be  free  from  suffering. 

4.  The  Eightfold  Path.— "  The   Middle   Path,"   so 
called  because  it  avoids  the  indulgence  in  the  pleas- 
ures of  sense  on  the  one  hand  and  self-mortification 
and  torture  on  the  other  hand,  is  eightfold  in  nature. 
It  is  the  only  true  way  to  advance  in  a  virtuous  life  to- 
wards the  goal  of  Nirvana.     It  consists  of :     I.  Right 
belief  or  views ;  2.  right  feelings  or  aims ;  3.  right 
speech;    4.     right    action;     5.     right    livelihood;    6. 
right    endeavor,    or    training;    7.  right    memory,    or 
mindfulness;  8.  right  meditation,  or  concentration  of 
mind.     It  must  be  remembered  that  these  expressions 
do  not  possess  the  broad  ethical  sense  applicable  to  the 
daily  life  of  ordinary  man.     They  belong  only  to  the 
solitary  life  of  a  Buddhist  monk,  and  must  be  inter- 
preted  in   a    narrow   sense    in    connection    with   the 
frames  of  mind  and  modes  of  action  expected  in  one 
who  has  cut  himself  off  from  the  society  of  his  fellows 
and  has   retired   into  the  seclusion   of  the  monastic 
life.     Society  with  one's  fellows  is  so  conducive  to 
sinful  thought  and  action  that  it  is  hardly  possible 
for  any  one  to  enter  the  Eightfold  Path  unless  he 
becomes  a  monk. 

5.  Ignorance. —  Among  the  evil  principles,  yielding 
to  which  is  productive  of  sin,  demerit,  and  suffering, 
none    occupy    so    prominent    a    place    as    ignorance 
(Avijja),  thirst  or  desire  (Tanha),  and  clinging  to  ex- 
istence (Upadana).     Ignorance  consists  in  not  know- 
ing that  all  life  is  suffering,  and  that  suffering  is  the 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN   ASIA  10$ 

result  of  indulging  in  lusts  and  desires  and  will  only 
cease  when  all  lusts  and  desires  are  completely  con- 
quered and  destroyed.  The  Dhammapada  says: 
"  But  there  is  a  taint  worse  than  all  taints ;  ignorance 
is  the  greatest  taint.  O  Mendicants,  throw  off  that 
taint  and  become  taintless."  Men  naturally  forget 
that  impermanence  and  change  are  inherent  elements 
of  existence.  "  He  who  knows,"  says  the  Dhamma- 
pada, "  that  this  body  is  like  froth,  and  has  learnt  that 
it  is  as  unsubstantial  as  a  mirage,  will  break  the  flower- 
tinted  arrow  of  Mara  and  never  see  the  King  of 
Death."  "  All  created  things  perish ;  he  who  knows 
and  sees  this  becomes  passive  in  pain;  this  is  the  way 
to  purity."  The  Maghasutta  says :  "  For  there  is 
not  any  means  by  which  those  who  have  been  born  can 
avoid  dying ;  after  reaching  old  age  there  is  death ;  of 
such  a  nature  are  living  beings." 

6.  Thirst  or  Desire. —  Another  prominent  evil  prin- 
ciple in  the  production  of  sinful  acts  is  Tanha,  thirst, 
or  desire.  Its  importance  is  seen  from  the  place  which 
it  occupies  in  the  Four  Noble  Truths.  The  fol- 
lowing passages  point  out  its  power  over  men :  "  Men 
driven  on  by  thirst  run  about  like  a  snared  hare ;  held 
in  fetters  and  bonds  they  undergo  pain  for  a  long  time 
again  and  again.  Men  driven  on  by  thirst  run  about 
like  a  snared  hare;  let,  therefore,  the  Mendicant  drive 
out  thirst  by  striving  after  passionlessness  for  himself." 
;'  Those  whose  wishes  are  their  motives,  who  are  linked 
to  the  pleasures  of  the  world, —  they  are  difficult  to 
liberate,  for  they  cannot  be  liberated  by  others."  The 
persistence  of  the  power  and  development  of  Tanha  is 
compared  to  the  Birana  grass,  a  terrible  pest  to  the 
tiller  of  the  soil,  which  spreads  rapidly  and  shoots 


IO6  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

down  deep  roots,  so  that  when  the  tiller  thinks  that  he 
has  rooted  it  up,  it  suddenly  springs  up  again  with  a 
rapid  growth.  "  Whomsoever  this  fierce  thirst  over- 
comes, full  of  poison  in  this  world,  his  sufferings  in- 
crease like  the  abounding  Birana  grass."  "  This 
salutary  word  I  tell  you;  do  ye,  as  many  as  are  as- 
sembled, dig  up  the  root  of  thirst,  as  he  who  wants  the 
sweet  scented  Usira  root  must  dig  up  the  Birana  grass, 
that  Mara  [the  tempter]  may  not  crush  you  again  and 
again,  as  the  stream  crushes  the  reeds." 

7.  Clinging  to  Existence. —  Tanha  is  not  only  the 
desire  for  sensuous  pleasures,  the  craving  of  the  senses, 
but  it  is  also  Upadana,  the  clinging  to  existence.  Far 
below  the  sensuous  desires  at  the  root  of  being  are 
innate  longings  for  existence,  often  held  uncon- 
sciously. The  explanation  is  this.  The  Second  Noble 
Truth  declares  that  all  desire  leads  to  existence.  It 
perpetuates  birth  after  birth.  If  there  was  no  contact 
of  the  senses  with  external  things,  there  would  be  no 
grasping  after  external  things,  and  so  there  would  be 
no  desire  for  personal  existence  in  this  or  other  worlds ; 
and  one  basis  of  sin,  one  source  of  sorrow  would 
cease.  "  I  see  in  this  world  this  trembling  race  given 
to  desire  for  existences.  "He  is  a  wise  and  accom- 
plished man  in  this  world;  having  abandoned  this 
cleaving  to  reiterated  existence  he  is  without  desire, 
free  from  woe,  free  from  longing;  he  has  crossed 
over  birth  and  old  age."  The  man  who  has  con- 
quered Ignorance,  Desire,  and  Clinging  to  Existence 
can  say :  "  I  have  conquered  all,  I  know  all,  in  all  con- 
ditions of  life  I  am  free  from  taint ;  I  have  left  all,  and 
through  the  destruction  of  thirst,  I  am  free;  having 
learnt  myself,  whom  shall  I  teach  ?"  Sin  is  thus  in  the 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  IO/ 

Buddhist  sense,  the  thought  or  act  which  produces 
suffering;  it  has  no  reference  to  the  breaking  of  the 
law  of  a  supremely  Holy  Being. 

VII.  The  Doctrine  of  Karma. — i.  What  Trans- 
migration Explains. —  Ignorance  with  its  outcome  of 
sin  entails,  as  we  have  seen,  a  series  of  numberless 
successive  lives  in  some  form  until  by  the  acquirement 
of  the  Four  Noble  Truths  the  Deliverance  of  Nirvana 
is  reached.  The  doctrine  of  transmigration  is  the 
theory  which  attempts  the  solution  of  the  problem  of 
evil.  Present  evil  existence  is  the  result  of  evil  in  a 
preceding  existence.  Future  existence  will  be  full  of 
happiness  or  sorrow  according  to  the  character  of  this 
present  life.  Here  is  the  explanation  of  the  anomalies, 
wrongs,  and  evils,  as  well  as  the  happiness,  prosperity, 
and  blessings  so  unequally  distributed  among  men. 
But  at  last,  with  ignorance  dispelled,  the  mind  becomes 
"  knowledge-freed  "  and  grasps  the  principle  that  suf- 
fering is  the  inevitable  attribute  of  all  existence.  The 
impossibility  of  escape  is  thus  graphically  described: 
"  Not  in  the  sky,  not  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  not  if  we 
enter  into  the  clefts  of  the  mountains,  is  there  known 
a  spot  in  the  whole  world  where  a  man  might  be  freed 
from  an  evil  deed." 

2.  Karma  Defined. —  The  great  cause  of  transmigra- 
tion is  Karma.  Karma  primarily  means  act,  but  as  a 
Buddhist  term  it  means  act-force.  Rhys  Davids  calls 
it  "  the  conservation  of  moral  energy."  The  idea 
is  that  when  a  sentient  being  dies  Karma,  the  resultant 
force  of  all  his  past  actions,  brings  into  existence  a 
new  being  whose  state  is  happy  or  miserable  according" 
to  the  desert,  good  or  evil,  embodied  in  that  resultant 
force.  In  an  interview  with  Gautama,  a  young 


IO8  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

Brahman  said :  "  From  some  cause  or  other  mankind 
receive  existence ;  but  there  are  some  persons  who  are 
exalted,  others  are  mean;  some  who  die  young,  others 
who  live  to  a  great  age ;  some  who  suffer  from  various 
diseases,  others  who  have  no  sickness  until  they  die; 
some  who  are  of  mean  birth,  others  who  belong  to 
the  highest  castes.  What  is  the  cause  of  these  dif- 
ferences? What  is  it  that  appoints  or  controls  these 
discrepancies  ?  "  To  which  Buddha  replied :  "  All 
sentient  beings  have  their  own  individual  Karma;  the 
most  essential  property  of  all  beings  is  their  Karma; 
Karma  comes  by  inheritance,  not  from  parentage,  but 
from  previous  births ;  Karma  is  the  cause  of  all  good 
and  evil.  It  is  the  difference  in  Karma  that  causes 
the  difference  in  the  lot  of  man,  so  that  some  are  mean 
and  others  are  exalted,  some  are  miserable  and  others 
are  happy."  Thus  there  is  no  law  of  heredity  in 
Buddhism,  but  in  figure  all  action  of  a  sentient  being 
may  be  looked  upon  as  seed  sown  from  which  a 
partial  fruitage  is  reaped  in  the  world,  but  much  of 
the  seed,  made  up  of  good  or  bad  elements,  has  re- 
mained to  spring  forth  after  his  death  and  bear  fruit 
in  the  existence  of  a  new  being  whose  character,  con- 
dition, and  place  of  living  are  determined  by  it.  The 
being  who  dies  is  not  reborn.  Another  person  is 
born,  bearing  the  results,  good  or  evil,  of  the  life  of 
the  being  who  died.  The  Skandhas  of  one  being  dis- 
solve and  new  Skandhas  appear  in  the  new  being  de- 
termined by  the  Karma  of  the  former  being.  In  other 
words,  there  is  no  continuity  of  identity.  Here  is  a 
difficulty,  for  one  would  naturally  expect  that  every 
moral  idea  would  demand  the  continuity  of  personal 
identity,  when  such  a  moral  act-force  was  to  de- 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  ICX) 

termine  the  character  of  another  existence.  But  there 
is  no  soul  in  the  Buddhist  system,  and  there  is  no 
actual  identity  of  any  kind  between  the  two  sentient 
beings  that  the  action  of  Karma  connects,  except  per- 
haps the  relation  which  the  seed  has  between  the 
plant  which  produced  it  and  the  plant  which  it  pro- 
duces. Yet  sometimes  Gautama  seems  to  imply  a 
very  intimate  connection  between  the  two  beings 
joined  by  Karma.  The  Dhammapada  says:  "The 
virtuous  man  delights  in  this  world,  and  he  delights 
in  the  next;  he  delights  in  both.  The  evil  doer  suf- 
fers in  this  world,  and  he  suffers  in  the  next;  he 
suffers  in  both."  The  sacred  books,  however,  clearly 
teach  non-identity  in  the  absence  of  a  soul  in  man. 

VIII.  Salvation. — i.  Buddhist  Idea  of  Salvation 
and  Sin. —  In  Buddhism  salvation  means  an  es- 
cape from  existence  which  is  regarded  as  in- 
herently and  only  evil  and  full  of  suffering.  There 
is  no  place  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins ;  for  there  is  no 
God  of  infinite  power  and  love,  no  all-powerful  Sav- 
ior like  Christ  to  redeem  from  the  power  of  sin  and 
death  and  to  restore  to  a  life  of  everlasting  harmony 
with  God.  Sins  arise  out  of  the  evil  condition  be- 
longing to  the  body,  and  their  punishment  follows 
with  unerring  certainty.  "  All  that  we  are  is  the 
result  of  what  we  have  thought ;  it  is  founded  on  our 
own  thoughts,  it  is  made  up  of  our  thoughts.  If  a 
man  speaks  or  acts  with  an  evil  thought,  pain  follows 
him  as  the  wheel  follows  the  foot  of  the  ox  that  draws 
the  carriage."  Inexorable  law  occupies  the  place  of 
God  in  Gautama's  system  and  rules  the  lives  and 
destinies  of  men.  Forgiveness  is  an  impossibility, 
for  there  is  no  one  who  can  forgive.  Retribution  in 


IIO  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

oneself  is  set  forth  in  ghastly  pictures  of  torments 
in  hells,  which  have  only  a  partial  and  temporary  part 
in  the  punishment  of  evil  deeds,  successive  rebirths 
for  ages  being  necessary  to  complete  the  expiation. 

2.  Salvation   an  Intellectual  Act. —  Salvation   is   a 
purely  intellectual  attainment,  as  is. indicated  by  the 
derivation  of  the  name  Buddha  from  budh,  to  know. 
Gautama    reached    salvation    by   attaining   the    Great 
Enlightenment,   a  mental,  not  a   spiritual   condition. 
It  is  by  a  perfect  mental  apprehension  of  the  Four 
Noble  Truths  that  a  man  reaches  emancipation  and 
passes  beyond  the  ocean  of  Sarhsara  (transmigration) 
and  the  unconscious  calm  or  non-existence  of  Nirvana. 
"  He  who  takes  refuge  in  Buddha,  the  Law,  and  the 
Sangha,  he   who  with   clear  understanding  sees   the 
Four  Noble  Truths,  namely,  suffering,  the  origin  of 
suffering,  the  destruction  of  suffering,  and  the  Eight- 
fold Path  that  leads  to  the  quieting  of  suffering  — 
that  is  the  safe  refuge,  that  is  the  best  refuge ;  having 
gone  to  that  refuge,  a  man  is  delivered  from  all  pain." 

3.  Salvation  Self -wrought. —  In  Buddhism  salvation 
is  a  self-wrought  thing.     "  By  oneself  the  evil  is  done, 
by  oneself  one  suffers ;  by  oneself  evil  is  left  undone,  by 
oneself  one  is  purified.     Purity  and  impurity  belong 
to  oneself ;  no  one  can  purify  another."     "  Those  who 
are  ever  watchful,  who  study  day  and  night,  and  who 
strive  after  Nirvana,  their  passions  will  come  to  an 
end."     "  Self  is  lord  of  self ;  who  else  could  be  lord  ? 
With  self  well  subdued,  a  man  finds  a  lord  such  as 
few  can  find."     In  the  event  of  Gautama's  attainment 
of  Buddhahood  under  the  Bo  Tree  he  claimed  to  have 
arrived  unaided  at  perfect  insight  into  the  nature  and 


BUDDHISM    IN   SOUTHERN    ASIA  III 

cause  of  sorrow  and  the  method  by  which  it  might  be 
destroyed.     Man  is  his  own  savior. 

4.  Underlying  Principle  of  Salvation. —  One  great 
principle  is  laid  down  for  the  working  out  of  salvation. 
A   man   abandoning   home    from   homelessness   must 
enter  the  solitary  life  of  a  monk  and,  pursuing  only 
"  right  action,"  must  abandon  himself  to  intense  self- 
concentration  and  profound  abstract  meditation  until 
the    Great   Enlightenment  breaks   upon   him.     While 
he  keeps  the  Ten  Precepts  which  pertain  to  external 
things,  he  must  strenuously  tread  the  Eightfold  Path. 
The  Dhammapada  says :     "  The  best  of  ways  is  the 
eightfold ;  the  best  of  truths,  the  four  words ;  the  best 
of  virtues,  passionlessness ;  the  best  of  men,  he  who 
has  eyes  to  see.     This  is  the  way  —  there  is  no  other 
—  that  leads  to  the  purifying  of  intelligence." 

5.  Stages    of    Solidification. —  The    steps    of    the 
Eightfold  Path  have  been  already  mentioned,  but  the 
eighth  step  is  more  complex  than  the  others  and  needs 
some  explanation.     It  has  several  stages.     The  first 
stage  is  complete  emancipation   from  the  first  three 
fetters  —  delusion  of  self,  doubt  about  Buddha  and 
his  doctrines,  and  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  external 
rites.     A  man  who  has  gained  this  stage  of  sanctifica- 
tion  is  called  a  Sotapanno,  "  one  who  has  entered  the 
stream."     This   stream  will  carry  him  along  to  the 
tranquil  sea  of  Nirvana,  whatever  existences  may  re- 
main  to   him.     He   cannot  be   reborn    in   the   lower 
worlds  but  only  in  the  world  of  man,  or  in  one  of  the 
higher  worlds.     In  the  first  stage  of  Jhana  by  which 
this  first  stage  of  sanctification  is  reached,  a  man  se- 
cludes himself  and,  full  of  the  spirit  of  reflection,  fixes 
his  thinking  faculties  on  some  particular  object  until 


112  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

a  state  of  ecstatic  joy  and  serenity  are  produced. 
The  second  state  of  sanctification  is  such  an  emanci- 
pation from  the  power  of  sensuality  and  hatred  that 
the  person  will  be  reborn  in  this  world  only  once 
more.  He  is  called  a  Sakadagami,  "  one  returning 
once  [to  this  world]."  In  the  second  stage  of  Jhana 
by  which  this  second  stage  of  sanctification  is  attained, 
a  man  has  such  a  profound  concentration  of  mind 
that  the  action  of  the  thinking  faculties  cease  and  only 
ecstatic  joy  and  serenity  remain.  The  third  stage  of 
sanctification  is  entire  emancipaton  from  the  first  five 
fetters,  not  a  trace  of  low  desire  for  self  or  toward 
others  remaining.  He  is  called  Anagami,  "  one  who 
will  not  return  [to  this  world]."  In  the  third  stage 
of  Jhana  by  which  this  end  is  reached,  only  perfect 
serenity  remains  and  only  one  existence  in  a  Rupa- 
brahma  world  lies  before  him.  The  fourth  stage  of 
sanctification  is  complete  emancipation,  Arhatship,  in 
which  the  mind,  purified,  exalted,  is  without  any  emo- 
tion of  pain  or  pleasure.  The  ten  fetters  are  com- 
pletely broken.  No  bond  attaches  the  man  to  exist- 
ence any  longer.  Freed  from  the  power  of  Karma, 
he  would  experience  no  re-birth  after  death.  He  is 
an  Arhat,  or  "  worthy  one."  In  the  fourth  stage  of 
Jhana  by  which  Arhatship  is  reached,  serenity  ceases 
to  exist.  The  Arhat  becomes  completely  indifferent 
to  all  things  good  or  evil  and  dwells  in  a  rapt,  trance- 
like  ecstasy.  These  are  the  processes  by  which  a  man, 
through  ages  of  re-birth,  slowly  drops  off  the  evils 
and  impurities  of  existence,  becomes  more  and  more 
freed  from  all  illusion  about  its  phenomena,  advances 
in  moral  holiness,  reaches  at  last  a  complete  disentan- 
glement of  the  web  of  Karma,  enters  upon  a  state  of 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  113 

supernatural  ecstatic  tranquillity  which  is  undisturbed 
by  any  of  the  attributes  which  we  consider  a  necessary 
part  of  existence,  and  at  the  death  of  the  body  attains 
the  longed  for  goal  of  complete  Nirvana. 

IX.  Nirvana. — I.  Two  Senses  of  the  Term. — The 
highest  attainment,  the  summum  bonum  which  Bud- 
dhism holds  out  to  its  followers  is  Nirvana.  The  term 
is  derived  from  nir,  not,  and  va,  to  blow,  and  has  been 
the  source  of  earnest  discussion  among  the  students  of 
Buddhism.  The  term  was  borrowed  from  Brahman- 
ism,  where  it  meant  the  cessation  of  the  individual 
soul-life  by  its  re-absorption  into  Brahm,  the  World- 
Spirit.  Gautama,  however,  rejected  the  idea  of  a  soul 
and  a  supreme  World-Spirit.  In  the  sacred  books 
Nirvana  is  used  to  cover  two  sets  of  expressions.  In 
one  it  means  a  blissful  freedom  from  human  desire 
and  passion ;  in  the  other  it  implies  the  actual  cessa- 
tion of  existence  or,  at  least,  virtual  annihilation.  In 
the  former  case,  as  in  the  Dhammapada,  it  applies  to 
Arhats  and  denotes  a  state  of  complete  calm  which 
belongs  to  the  final  stage  of  sanctification.  In  the 
latter  case  it  denotes  not  only  the  Nirvana  which  the 
Arhat  attains  but  the  complete  end  of  the  series  of 
conscious  bodily  organizations  which  takes  place  at 
the  death  of  an  Arhat,  or  a  Buddha,  and  is  an  utter 
extinction  of  being.  The  first  meaning  is  seen  in  the 
"  Joyful  Utterance  "  of  Gautama  when  he  reached  the 
calm  of  the  conquest  of  Arhatship  under  the  Bo  Tree. 
"  I  ran  through  many  birth  transmigrations,  seeking 
the  builder  of  this  house,  but  did  not  find  him;  re- 
peated births  are  miserable.  O,  housebuilder,  thou 
hast  been  seen ;  thou  shalt  not  build  the  house  again ; 
all  thy  rafters  are  broken ;  the  ridgepole  is  destroyed ; 


114  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

the  mind  is  destroyed ;  it  has  attained  the  extinction  of 
desires."  This  was  Nirvana  in  its  first  sense.  Ignor- 
ance, depravity,  desire,  clinging  to  existence  had  been 
destroyed  and  the  action  of  Karma  brought  to  an  end. 
But  Gautama  lived  for  many  years  in  the  Nirvana. 
The  Skandhanirvana,  the  destruction  of  the  elements 
of  physical  being,  could  come  only  at  his  death. 

2.  Parinirvana. —  In  the  case  of  Gautama  this  final 
and  complete  Nirvana  is  called  Parinirvana;  and, 
notwithstanding  those  who,  under  the  influence  of 
Western  feeling  which  shrinks  from  the  idea  of  an- 
nihilation, seek  to  define  it  as  a  calm,  passionless,  un- 
conscious existence,  it  means  extinction  of  all  exist- 
ence. The  metaphysical  distinction  between  the  two 
ideas  is  so  tenuous  as  to  amount  to  nothing.  The 
Brahma jalasutta  gives  the  idea  of  extinction.  "  When 
the  stalk  to  which  a  bunch  of  mangoes  is  united  is  cut 
off,  all  the  mangoes  united  to  that  stalk  accompany  it ; 
even  so,  monks,  the  body  of  Tathagata,  whose  stalk  of 
existence  is  entirely  cut  off,  still  remains ;  and  so  long 
as  the  body  remains,  he  will  be  seen  by  gods  and  men ; 
but  upon  the  termination  of  life,  when  the  body  is 
broken  up,  gods  and  men  shall  not  see  him." 

X.  Buddhist  Ethics. — The  ethical  teaching  of 
Buddhism  is  lofty  and  noble.  By  some  it  has  been 
ranked  not  only  next  to,  but  above  that  of  Christianity 
among  the  great  religions  of  the  world.  There  are, 
indeed,  many  real  similarities,  but  there  are  also  many 
which  are  only  superficial.  Radically  different  funda- 
mental principles  underlie  the  two  systems  of  teaching 
which  it  will  be  necessary  to  refer  to  later. 

i.  Object  of  Ethics.  —  The  moral  tone  of  the  Bud- 
dhist precepts  is  intensely  earnest.  The  object  is  not 


BUDDHISM   IN   SOUTHERN   ASIA  1 15 

simply  external  morality,  but  an  inward  morality  of 
the  mind.  To  follow  the  precepts  outwardly  is  not 
enough.  There  must  be  the  sincere  desire  of  the  mind 
to  embody  the  precepts  in  daily  life.  Without  inward 
sincerity  as  a  possession,  even  a  monk  is  one  only  in 
name. 

2.  Requirements  Differ  for   Monks   and   Laity. — 
While  the  moral  precepts  are  deemed  applicable  to  all 
Buddhists,  yet  only  the  members  of  the  celibate  San- 
gha,  by  following  the  special  rules  of  monastic  life  to- 
gether with  the  moral  precepts,  could  possibly  attain 
the  highest  good,  Nirvana.     In  view  of  the  necessary 
conditions  of  ordinary  life  of  those  who  could  not  enter 
the  Saiigha,  Gautama  established  a  secondary  way  for 
the  laity,  or  householders    (gahapati),  as  they  were 
styled,  and  in  a  certain  degree  associated  them  with  his 
Sangha  as  a  recognized  religious  class  of  men.     Such 
might,  through  the  observance  of  the  precepts,  attain 
a  heavenly  state  (Sugati),  but  could  never  escape  from 
the  grip  of  Karma  and  existence.     To  reach  the  end  of 
sorrow  in   Nirvana,  the  householder  must  enter  the 
mendicant  ranks.    The  Khaggavisanasutta  says  of  the 
householder,    "  Removing    the    characteristics    of    a 
householder  like  a  Parikhatta  tree  whose  leaves  are 
cut  off,  clothed  in  a  yellow  robe  after  wandering  away 
[from  his  house]  let  him  wander  alone  like  a  rhino- 
ceros." 

3.  Five    Precepts. —  Perhaps    none    of    the    rules 
of  moral  conduct  are  more  prominent  in  the  Buddhist 
system  and  more  frequently  on  the  lips  of  its  followers, 
than  the  five  fundamental  rules,  called  the  Pancaslla. 
They  are : 

(i)   One  should  not  take  life. 


Il6  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

(2)  One  should  not  steal. 

(3)  One  should  not  commit  adultery. 

(4)  One  should  not  lie. 

(5)  One  should  not  drink  intoxicating  liquor. 
These  Five  Precepts  are  binding  on  all  Buddhists, 

and  are  a  part  of  the  Ten  Precepts  binding  on  all 
monks.  The  five  additional  precepts  for  monks  con- 
cern external  practice  and  have  no  moral  element  in 
them  except  the  cultivation  of  humility  and  soberness 
of  life.  The  third  of  the  Five  Precepts  needs  farther 
explanation.  Entire  abstinence  from  sexual  inter- 
course was  obligatory  on  the  monk.  Without  this 
abstinence  no  one  could  enter  upon  the  direct  path  to 
Arhatship  and  Nirvana.  "  A  wise  man  should  avoid 
married  life  as  if  it  were  a  pit  of  burning  coals."  The 
Munisutta  says :  "  From  acquaintanceship  arises  fear, 
from  household  life  arises  defilement;  the  houseless 
state,  freedom  from  acquaintanceship,  this  is  indeed  the 
view  of  the  Muni."  The  idea  that  marriage  or  a 
happy  home  life  was  evil  was  a  direct  antagonism  to 
human  nature.  A  recoil  naturally  arose  from  the  uni- 
versal application  of  this  doctrine  of  celibacy.  As 
Gautama  won  a  large  number  of  disciples,  the  people 
complained,  "Gautama  is  breaking  up  family  life." 
They  saw  that  the  perpetuation  of  the  race  would  give 
place  to  childlessness  and  the  extinction  of  the  family. 
Gautama  found  a  relaxation  of  his  rule  a  necessity. 
Marriage  was  allowed  to  the  "  householder,"  and  its 
upright  moral  character  was  assured  to  him  by  the 
approval  of  Gautama ;  but  the  "  householder,"  could 
never  enter  the  Eightfold  Path,  the  Path  of  Salvation, 
unless  he  adopted  the  celibacy  of  a  monk.  It  is  a 
curious  case  of  yielding  apparently  to  the  popular  will, 


BUDDHISM   IN   SOUTHERN   ASIA 

while  Gautama  still  maintained  that  desire  in  any  form 
was  one  of  the  great  evils  of  human  existence. 

4.  Miscellaneous  Precepts. —  A  quotation  of  some  of 
the  moral  precepts  from  different  parts  of  the  sacred 
books  will  convey  a  good  conception  of  their  character. 

Anger. — "  He  who  holds  back  rising  anger  like  a 
rolling  chariot,  him  I  call  a  real  driver ;  other  people  are 
but  holding  the  reins."  "  Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brah- 
mana  who  is  tolerant  with  the  intolerant,  mild  with 
faultfinders,  and  free  from  passion  among  the  passion- 
ate. Him  I  call  indeed  a  Brahmana  from  whom  anger 
and  hatred,  pride  and  envy  have  dropped  like  a  mustard 
seed  from  the  point  of  a  needle." 

Hatred. — "  For  hatred  does  not  cease  by  hatred  at 
any  time.  Hatred  ceases  by  love ;  this  is  an  old  rule." 

Pride. — "  The  person  who,  without  being  asked, 
praises  his  own  virtue  and  [holy]  works  to  others,  him 
the  good  call  ignoble,  one  who  praises  himself." 

Hyprocrisy. — "  Many  men  whose  shoulders  are  cov- 
ered with  the  yellow  robe  are  ill-conditioned  and  unre- 
strained ;  such  evil  doers  by  their  evil  deeds  go  to  hell." 
"  What  is  the  use  of  platted  hair,  O  fools  [referring  to 
the  Hindu  ascetics]  !  What  of  the  raiment  of  goat- 
skins !  Within  thee  there  is  ravening,  but  the  outside, 
thou  makest  clean." 

Love  of  Evil  Company. — "  He  who  walks  in  the 
company  of  fools  suffers  a  long  way.  Company  with 
fools,  as  with  an  enemy,  is  always  painful;  company 
with  the  wise  is  pleasure,  like  meeting  with  kinsfolk." 

Love  of  Riches. — " '  These  sons  belong  to  me.' 
With  such,  a  fool  is  tormented.  He  himself  does  not 
belong  to  himself ;  how  much  less  sons  and  wealth." 

The  Ten  Perfections. —  The  Perfections  are  an  un- 


Ii8  RELIGIONS  OF  MISSION  FIELDS 

scientifically  arranged  set  of  transcendent  virtues,  the 
perfect  exercise  of  which  belongs  only  to  those  who  are 
in  the  path  of  Arhatship  and  are  a  preliminary  condi- 
tion to  the  attainment  of  Nirvana.  Underlying  them 
are  fundamental  virtuous  principles  which  are  recog- 
nized and  inculcated  as  a  desirable  attainment  by  all. 

Love,  or  Loving-kindness,  (Metta)  is  much  dwelt 
upon.  It  is  an  attitude  of  kindly  compassionate 
feeling,  and  is  not  necessarily  a  motive  of  action.  It 
seeks  concord  with  others.  "  Let  us  cultivate  goodwill 
toward  all  the  world,  a  boundless  [friendly]  mind, 
above  and  below  and  across,  unobstructed,  without 
hatred,  without  enmity."  It  also  abstains  from  doing 
injury  to  others, —  "Whosoever  in  this  world  harms 
living  beings,  whether  once  or  twice  born,  and  in  whom 
there  is  no  compassion  for  living  beings,  let  one  know 
him  as  an  outcast."  The  conception  is  a  narrow  one 
compared  with  the  outgoing  force  of  Christian  love. 

Self-control. — "As  rain  does  not  break  through  a 
well-thatched  house,  passion  will  not  break  through  a 
well  reflecting  mind."  "  If  one  man  conquer  in  bat- 
tle a  thousand  times  thousand  men,  and  if  another  con« 
quer  himself,  he  is  the  greatest  of  conquerors." 

Forbearance. — "  Silently  shall  I  endure  abuse  as  the 
elephant  in  battle  endures  the  arrow  sent  from  the  bow, 
for  the  world  is  ill-natured." 

Recognition  of  Equality. — "  I  do  not  call  a  man  a 
Brahmana  because  of  his  origin  or  of  his  mother.  He 
is  indeed  arrogant  and  he  is  wealthy ;  but  the  poor  who 
is  free  from  all  attachments,  him  I  call  indeed  a  Brah- 
mana." 

Filial  Love. — "  The  gift  of  the  whole  world  with 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN   ASIA 

all  its  wealth  would  be  no  adequate  return  to  parents 
for  all  that  they  have  done." 

Reverence  for  Age. — "  He  who  always  greets  and 
constantly  reveres  the  aged,  four  things  will  increase 
to  him,  viz.,  life,  beauty,  happiness,  power." 

Liberality  is  enforced,  but  it  is  not  a  generous  giving 
to  others.  The  word  danarh,  gift,  is  used  generally  in 
the  special  Buddhist  sense  of  giving  to  the  monks.  The 
object  of  this  giving  is  not  philanthropic,  but  for  the 
simple  purpose  of  securing  the  merit  which  follows  as 
a  reward.  The  result  is,  that  while  the  devout  Budd- 
hist will  build  zayats,  or  rest  houses,  dig  wells,  and  do 
other  things  of  more  or  less  public  utility,  these  things 
are  not  primarily  for  the  good  of  others,  but  for  the 
attainment  of  personal  merit. 

5.  The  Basis  of  Buddhist  and  of  Christian  Ethics. — 
These  quotations  show  that  the  Buddhist  ethical  sys- 
tem has  much  that  is  very  beautiful  and  noble,  and  that 
it  furnishes  a  high  ideal  of  personal  kindness,  moral 
earnestness,  and  purity.  Examination  of  the  basis  on 
which  the  system  rests  and  the  object  which  it  seeks 
shows  at  once  that  there  is  a  radical  difference  of  basis 
from  that  on  which  the  Christian  system  rests.  The 
foundation  of  Buddhist  morality,  as  well  as  its  end,  is 
self-interest.  It  seeks  to  direct  self-repression  for  the 
express  benefit  of  self;  and  that  benefit,  when  it  cul- 
minates, is  the  release  of  self  from  existence  and  the 
extinction  of  self  in  Nirvana.  It  starts  with  the  as- 
sumption that  all  existence  is  evil  through  suffering 
and  impermanence,  and  it  uses  its  principles  as  a  means 
by  which  the  personal  individuality  of  a  man  may  be 
utterly  destroyed  by  himself.  The  basis  of  Christian 
ethics  is  an  unselfishness  by  which  life  is  purified  and 


I2O  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

made  a  beautiful  ministry  to  others  as  a  service  of  God. 
As  Buddhist  ethics  center  in  self  in  their  application, 
they  are  naturally  comparatively  passive  in  form ;  while 
Christian  ethics,  without  stopping  at  the  benefit  of  self, 
flow  out  in  strenuous  influence  to  make  man  an  ardent 
lover  of  his  fellow  and  a  reverent  servant  of  God. 

XI.  Outward  Religious  Forms. — i.  Pagodas  and 
Worship  Days. —  Buddhist  piety  covers  the  land  with 
pagodas,  in  which  sacred  relics  are  supposed  to  be  en- 
shrined, and  with  monasteries  for  the  residence  of  the 
monks.  The  desire  to  obtain  merit  is  the  moving  prin- 
ciple in  the  building  cf  these  shrines  and  retreats  for 
monastic  life.  Whenever  it  is  possible,  the  pagoda  oc- 
cupies the  summit  of  a  hill  or  some  other  sightly 
place  and  gives  picturesqueness  to  the  view.  On  wor- 
ship days,  and  especially  at  great  feasts,  the  people 
visit  the  pagodas  and  monasteries  with  their  offerings 
and  recite  their  religious  formulae,  sure  of  increasing 
their  stock  of  merit.  There  are  four  worship  days  in 
each  lunar  month,  the  crescent,  the  full  moon,  the 
eighth  day  of  the  waning,  and  the  change,  or  "  dark- 
moon."  Devout  Buddhists  observe  the  four  days. 
They  are  careful  to  visit  the  pagodas,  and,  after  having 
worshipped,  they  spend  the  day  in  neighboring  zayats 
or  resthouses  built  near  by,  where  they  repeat  their 
rosaries,  talk  of  the  Law  or  of  the  topics  of  the  day, 
and,  if  opportunity  offers,  gather  about  monks,  who 
recite  passages  from  the  sacred  books.  Though  there 
is  no  power  but  public  opinion  to  condemn  absence,  the 
worldly  minded  do  not  miss  very  many  of  these  ap- 
pointed days,  because  of  the  opportunities  for  gay 
social  intercourse  and  the  outside  amusements  which 
are  furnished  for  the  occasion. 


BUDDHISM    IN   SOUTHERN   ASIA  121 

2.  Lent  in  Burma. —  Lent,  from  the  full  moon  of 
July  to  the  full  moon  of  October,  differs  from  the  rest 
of  the  year  in  that  all  laymen  are  expected  to  make 
special  effort  in  the  observance  of  the  weekly  worship 
days.  Lent  arose  from  the  custom  of  the  Buddha  and 
his  disciples  to  cease  to  itinerate  during  the  rainy  sea- 
son and  to  retire  to  some  monastery  to  mediate  on  the 
sacred  law  and  to  expound  it  to  any  who  might  wish 
to  listen.  No  theatricals,  no  marriages  are  allowed  in 
Lent.  Taking  place  in  the  rainy  season,  as  it  is  the 
time  for  preparing  the  land  for  the  crop,  so  it  is  the 
time  for  special  religious  effort  for  the  future.  The 
congregations  on  the  worship  days  are  much  more 
crowded  than  at  other  times  of  the  year.  The  scene  at 
the  great  Shwe  Dagon  pagoda  in  Rangoon  on  the  festi- 
val days  at  the  end  of  Lent  is  wonderfully  fine  and  im- 
pressive. People  alone  or  in  groups,  gayly  clad  and  in 
holiday  spirit,  wind  up  the  stone  steps  under  the  richly 
carved  roofs  of  the  long  line  of  porticoes  by  which  the 
lofty  platform  of  the  pagoda  is  approached.  Stalls  for 
the  sale  of  flowers  and  candles  to  worshippers,  and  of 
thin  sheets  of  goldleaf  for  overlaying  the  surface  of  the 
pagoda,  and  stalls  for  the  sale  of  marvelous  toys, 
jewelry,  Burmese  literature,  and  many  other  things 
fully  occupy  either  side  of  the  ascent.  When  one  has 
once  arrived  on  the  platform,  the  great  golden  cone  of 
Shwe  Dagon  rises  in  magnificent  symmetry,  over  360 
feet  in  height,  surmounted  by  the  great  umbrella,  with 
its  gold  and  silver  bells,  whence  every  passing  breeze 
elicits  music  of  wonderful  sweetness,  and  the  finial 
flag  of  solid  gold  set  with  precious  gems  of  every  de- 
scription. On  the  crowded  platform,  pious  worship- 
pers, singly  or  in  groups,  with  hands  holding  lighted 


122  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

candles  or  bright  colored  flowers,  kneel  on  the  bare 
flagging,  while  endless  streams  of  people,  eager  to  see 
and  to  talk,  move  to  and  fro.  The  blending  of  wor- 
ship and  festivity  seems  in  no  way  to  jar  on  the  public 
sense.  Popular  worship  is  the  same  on  all  worship 
days  and  at  all  great  festivals  of  the  year. 

3.  Home  Worship  of  Spirits. —  Private  worship  in 
the  home  does  not  exist  very  generally.  Some  earnest 
men  read  the  sacred  books,  or  tell  the  108  beads  of 
their  rosary  in  the  wearisome  repetition,  Aneiksa,  doka, 
anatta  —  "  Impermanence,  suffering,  unreality."  The 
worship  of  the  pagoda  is  only  thought  of  once  in  seven 
days ;  in  the  home  there  is  constant  recognition  of  the 
presence  of  the  spirits  who  have  an  intimate  connec- 
tion with  men  from  birth  to  death.  These  spirits  must 
be  propitiated  lest  they  act  with  malevolence.  When  a 
house  is  built,  the  tops  of  the  post*  are  covered  with 
white  hoods  of  cotton  cloth  for  the  comfortable  abode 
of  the  house  nat.  Sometimes  a  hollow  cocoanut  is 
hung  from  the  eaves  in  front  of  the  house.  A  small 
flat  piece  of  wood,  fastened  at  the  end  of  a  short  pole 
which  is  placed  upright  in  the  ground,  is  used  for  a 
nat  altar,  and  a  handful  of  cooked  rice  is  laid  upon  it 
as  an  offering  to  the  house  nat.  The  preparation  of 
the  fields  for  the  crops  and  the  gathering  of  the  harvest 
are  preceded  by  offerings  to  the  nats.  Villages  have 
their  nats,  for  whom  little  shrines  are  erected  just  out- 
side of  their  limits,  where  tiny  lamps,  water-pots, 
flowers,  and  morsels  of  food  are  reverently  placed. 
While  the  educated  monks  denounce  this  nat  worship 
as  heretical,  it  continues  to  maintain  its  hold  on  the 
people  and  conveys  a  feeling  of  comfort  and  assurance 
to  them.  All  this  shows  how  imperfect  the  hold  of 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  123 

Buddhism  is  on  the  real  life  of  the  people.  Still  men 
who  practice  these  customs  would  indignantly  deny 
that  they  were  not  Buddhists. 

XII.  Sects  of  Southern  Buddhism. — Buddhism  is 
not  free  from  sects.     The  divisions  arise  more  in  re- 
gard to  the  following  of  monkish  discipline  as  taught 
in  the  Vinaya  than  in  any  broad  difference  of  doctrine. 
In  Burma  the  principal  sects  are  two :  the  Mahagandi, 
who  discard  many  of  the  strict  rules  of   discipline,, 
wear  silk  robes,  use  sandals  in  walking,  cover  the  head 
from  the  sun  with  an  umbrella,  and  even  have  food 
cooked  for  themselves  in  their  monastery  enclosures ; 
and  the  Sulagandi  sect,  the  Puritan  party,  which  de- 
nounces the  luxurious  tendencies  that  have  come  in 
with  the  increase  of  wealth  under  the  English  gov- 
ernment.    These,  as  well  as  the  smaller  sects,  are  very 
hostile  to  one  another,  refusing  common  worship  and 
attendance  at  funerals  of  those  of  another  sect,  and 
even  avoiding  daily  intercourse. 

XIII.  Weaknesses    of     Buddhism. —  I.  Without 
God. —  It  is  a  colossal  weakness  of  Buddhist  belief 
that  it  has  no  supreme,  eternal,  perfect  Being  who  rises 
above  all  other  beings  in  the  inherent  perfection  of  His 
character,  controls  all  things,  and  presents  His  own 
holy  will  as  the  unchanging  rule  of  life.     Buddha,  who 
rises  to  such  prominence  like  a  meteor  in  the  sky,  is 
only  a  temporarily  deified  man.     One  of  the  first  ef- 
forts of  the  Christian  missionary  must  be  to  establish 
the  doctrine  of  the  eternal  God  as  Creator  and  Moral 
Ruler  of  the  world,  by  whose  wisdom  and  power  the 
universe  exists.     Down  deep  in  the  hearts  of  many  of 
the  common  people  is  a  latent,  responsive  feeling  of  the 
reasonableness  of  the  existence  of  such  a  God.    This 


124  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

latent  idea  in  many  minds  is  an  undoubted  help  to  the 
missionary  in  trying  to  establish  the  fact  of  the  being 
of  God,  for  such  often  listen  readily  to  arguments  in 
favor  of  the  doctrine.  Some  educated  men  have  gone 
so  far  as  to  say  that,  as  the  marble  or  wooden  image 
of  Gautama  represents  him,  so  Gautama  represents  an 
unknown  Supreme  Being,  but  such  cases  are  exceed- 
ingly rare. 

2.  No  Basis  for  Conscience. —  With  the  absence  of 
the  belief  in  the  existence  of  an  eternal,  omnipotent 
God  who  makes  obedience  to  His  perfect  moral  will 
the  law  of  daily  life,  there  is  no  basis  for  conscience  in 
its  best  sense  and  for  the  stimulation  of  its  exercise. 
The  nearest  approach  to  conscience  in  the  Buddhist 
terminology  is  Ottapa,  the  mental  state  of  fearing  hell. 
Many  ignorant  people  might  not  even  know  the  word, 
which  is  of  Pali  origin;  but  the  principle  exists,  for 
one  of  the  most  common  excuses  for  not  doing  a  wrong 
thing  is,  "  I  fear  hell."  It  is  from  the  lack  of  a  keen 
conscience  that  lying  and  theft  are  regarded  as  trivial 
matters,  from  which  very  few  would  abstain  if  they 
thought  circumstances  were  favorable  to  themselves. 
Though  sensuality,  earthly  pleasure,  and  clinging  to 
the  objects  of  sense  are  forbidden,  and  purity,  gentle- 
ness, and  kindliness  to  others  are  inculcated,  whatever 
of  conscience  may  exist,  its  power  is  too  weak  to  lead 
to  the  avoidance  of  the  evil  and  the  pursuit  of  the  good. 
But  when  the  idea  of  a  holy  God  is  accepted,  con- 
science is  developed  with  life  and  power.  There  comes 
a  keen  and  correct  discrimination  of  what  is  right  and 
what  is  wrong  in  all  thought  and  action  as  related  to 
God's  holy  will,  and  likewise  the  incentive  to  obedience 
to  that  will,  or  the  sweeping  condemnation  of  dis- 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA 

obedience  with  consequent  results  of  happiness  or  suf- 
fering. 

3.  Absence  of  True  View  of  Sin. —  With  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  true  conscience,  the  true  doctrine  of  sin 
finds  a  foundation.     Sin  becomes  the  transgression  of 
God's  will,  a  great  pervading  evil  in  life.     No  such 
idea  of  sin  exists  in  Buddhism.     There  are  sins,  the 
transgression  of  the  moral  precepts  as  the  Buddhists 
know  them,  but  there  is  no  acknowledgment  of  a  sin- 
ful state  through  the  separation  from  God  which  the 
Christian  religion  teaches. 

4.  False  Doctrine  of  Salvation. —  With  the  establish- 
ment of  the  existence  of  God,  the  awakening  of  con- 
science, and  the  recognition  of  man  as  a  sinner  against 
God  through  disobedience  to  His  will,  men  are  ready 
to    understand    the    Christian    doctrine    of    salvation. 
Here,  as  in  the  case  of  many  religious  terms,  great 
care  is  necessary  to  insure  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
meaning  of  the  word.     Otherwise  a  missionary  and  a 
Buddhist  may  talk  at  cross  purposes.     The  Christian 
and  the  Buddhist  ideas  of  salvation  are  opposites.     The 
Buddhist  conceives  of  salvation  as  the  personal  de- 
liverance of  self  by  the  efforts  and  actions  of  self  cul- 
minating after  numberless  existences  in  the  attainment 
of  Nirvana.     He  denies  absolutely  that  one  can  be  in 
any  way  saved  by  another.     Distant  and  almost  im- 
practicable as  his  self-wrought  salvation  seems,  he  re- 
jects  vigorously  the   possibility  of  a   divine   Savior. 
When  Gautama  is  called  the  savior,  it  is  simply  be- 
cause he  has  made  known  the  path  of  deliverance  from 
evil,  and  not  because  he  is  in  any  way  active  in  the 
deliverance  of  a  person.     Yet  at  the  moment  that  God 
and  sin  become  facts  to  the  Buddhist,  he  realizes  the 


126  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

impotence  of  his  own  attempts  at  working  out  salvation 
and  is  ready  to  see  the  infinite  grace  and  love  which 
provides  a  Redeemer  who  not  only  opens  a  way  of  sal- 
vation, but  is  active  in  effecting  the  deliverance  of  the 
individual  soul  from  the  power  of  sin  and  death. 

5.  Doctrine  of  Merit, —  The  doctrine  of  Kusala,  or 
merit,  which  is  so  "intimately  interwoven  with  the 
Buddhist  idea  of  salvation,  is  a  source  of  moral  weak- 
ness. It  caters  to  man's  love  of  self-righteousness. 
This  doctrine  exerts  a  very  powerful  influence  in  the 
life  of  the  people  and  often  overshadows  the  moral  in- 
fluence of  the  ethical  system.  The  Dhammapada  says, 
"  He  whose  evil  deeds  are  covered  by  good  deeds 
brightens  up  this  world  like  the  moon  when  freed  from 
clouds."  These  good  deeds  do  not  necessarily  involve 
any  moral  principle.  They  may  be  mere  external  acts 
according  to  the  law,  like  the  offering  of  flowers  at  a 
pagoda,  whose  sole  purpose  is  to  accumulate  merit  by 
the  gift.  Theoretically  the  principle  of  "good-inten- 
tion "  should  underlie  the  gifts,  but  practically  it  is 
lost  sight  of  by  a  large  number  of  people  who  act  on 
the  idea  that  the  mere  act  of  making  offerings  secures 
merit.  More  than  this,  men  deliberately  do  evil  and 
console  themselves  by  making  offerings  whose  merit 
will  offset  their  demerit.  They  thus  deliberately  bal- 
ance Kusala  and  Akusala,  and  the  moral  quality  of 
action  is  completely  ignored.  The  effect  on  personal 
life  is  to  minimize  whatever  moral  force  exists  in  the 
popular  religion.  Men  spend  much,  according  to  their 
means,  in  the  erection  of  pagodas,  monasteries,  and 
rest-houses,  in  the  support  of  monks  and  the  great 
variety  of  offerings  in  worship,  without  being  con- 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  127 

scious  of  the  movement  of  any  moral  feeling  or  ,of  any 
resultant  moral  benefit. 

6.  A  Religion  of  the  Intellect  Only. —  Another  point 
of  weakness  has  already  been  alluded  to  in  the  fact 
that  Buddhism  is  a  religion  of  the  intellect.     Man  has 
no  soul,  and  there  can  be  no  appeal  to  spiritual  de- 
velopment.    Enlightenment  of  the  mind  by  meditation, 
so  that  the  mind  may  gain  that  clear  and  complete  un- 
derstanding of  all  things  which  dispels  ignorance  and 
ends  the  voyage  across  the  crossing  waves  of  the  ocean 
of  existence,  was  the  great  object  sought  by  Gautama. 
Moral  perfection,  as   a  soul   life,  is   not   stimulated, 
though    moral    principles    are    inculcated;    hence    the 
moral  forces  in  Buddhism  are  weakened  and  the  ex- 
ternal life  takes  an  undue  prominence.     Men  seek  to 
follow  the  prohibitions  of  their  religion,  but  the  moral 
quality  is  not  the  determining  power  of  the  action. 
The  Christian  missionary  is  often  tried  by  the  intellec- 
tual assent  to  the  truths  which  he  preaches,  because 
there  is  no  corresponding  heart  assent  which  changes 
the  life.     The  convert  often  looks  at  Christianity  with 
the  same  mental  attitude  which  he  has  hitherto  held 
toward  his  ancestral  religion.     The  lack  of  the  need 
of  a  heart  assent,  as  demanded  by  Christianity,  has 
gone  far  to  produce  a  low  moral  plane  of  popular  life. 

7.  Effects  of  Belief  in  Karma. —  One  effect  of  the 
doctrine  of  Karma  in  the  life  of  the  common  people 
has  been  to  make  man  accept  life  in  an  almost  fatalistic 
sense.     The  events,  the  joys,  and  the  sorrows  of  every 
day  are  not  regarded  as  altogether  the  result  of  one's 
individual  action.     They  are  often  attributed  to  the 
force  of  Karma  acting  upon  them.     The  man  who 
meets  with  trouble  soothes  himself  with  the  remark, 


128  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

"  My  Karma  is  evil."  The  man  who  has  prosperity  re- 
joices in  the  idea  that  his  Karma  is  good.  The  feeling 
of  responsibility  for  action  with  reference  to  its  results 
and  the  consequent  stimulant  to  high  attainments  are 
impaired.  The  popular  mind  often  manifests  a  subtle 
indifference  to  misfortune  and  to  success,  whose  secret 
is  the  idea  that  much  in  life  is  due  to  the  overshadow- 
ing influence  of  Karma.  Casual  travelers  have  said 
that  the  Burmans  are  a  very  cheerful  race.  This  is 
true  in  outward  appearance  at  least;  but,  after  all, 
it  is  not  always  due  to  a  happy  frame  of  mind,  but 
rather  to  the  acceptance  of  things  as  they  come,  as 
matters  of  course  which  nothing  could  hinder.  Lam- 
entation over  past  evil  is  useless,  and  enjoyment  should 
be  extracted  from  the  present  moment,  so  far  as  pos- 
sible. 

XIV.  Benefits  Conferred  by  Buddhism. — i. 
Civic  and  Social. —  Buddhism  has  conferred  benefits  on 
the  peoples  who  have  come  under  its  influence.  It  pro- 
claims the  equality  of  civil  rights  and  social  freedom. 
Men  of  the  poorest  families  may  rise  to  the  highest 
positions.  Caste  is  foreign  to  its  spirit,  and  through 
its  absence  daily  intercourse  is  easy  and  unrestricted. 
Women  are  accorded  full  independence  of  action.  Un- 
trammeled  by  any  repression,  they  take  an  active  and 
prominent  part  in  all  forms  of  the  business  of  daily 
life. 

2.  Education,  Literature,  and  Art. —  These  have 
been  fostered  under  its  influences,  especially  in  the 
earlier  centuries  of  its  history.  Great  schools  of  Bud- 
dhist learning  existed  in  India  and  Ceylon,  and  a  large 
and  varied  literature  was  produced.  Education  has 
been  perpetuated  through  the  monastic  schools 


BUDDHISM    IN    SOUTHERN    ASIA  129 

which  have  continued  to  exist  in  every  Buddhist  coun- 
try. The  remains  of  the  sumptuous  rock  temples  of 
India,  the  elaborate  shrines  of  Anuradhapura  and  Pol- 
lonarua  in  Ceylon,  and  the  massive  pagodas  of  Pagan 
in  Burma  are  monuments  of  the  artistic  culture  which 
found  a  home  among  Buddhists  of  widely  different 
regions. 

3.  Buddhist  Ethics. —  The  ethical  system  of  Bud- 
dhism, notwithstanding  other  more  or  less  antagonistic 
principles,  has  been  a  force  for  good  in  social  and 
individual  life.  Whatever  the  egoistic  object  for  which 
the  system  was  preached,  the  common  people  could  not 
help  recognizing  the  excellence  of  the  principles  taught 
and  being  more  or  less  influenced  by  them.  These 
principles  appealed  with  great  force  to  the  mind. 
Moral  purity  of  thought,  word,  and  action,  though 
cultivated  for  personal  merit,  kept  a  lofty  ideal  before 
the  mind.  Men  were  constantly  reminded  that  avarice 
was  forbidden  and  generosity,  charity,  tolerance,  and 
kindly  feeling  toward  all  sentient  beings  were  in- 
culcated. War  was  condemned.  The  taking  of  life, 
even  the  life  of  any  animal,  was  stringently  forbidden. 
All  this  excellent  moral  system  inevitably  exercised  a 
general  influence  for  good,  while  individual  minds 
susceptible  to  the  truth  have  responded  with  personal 
effort  to  embody  these  virtues  in  life. 

XV.  The  Missionary's  Attitude  Toward  Bud- 
dhism.— i.  Wisdom,  Courtesy,  Candor. — The  Chris- 
tian missionary  who  deals  with  Buddhists  needs  great 
wisdom  and  patience.  It  is  an  ancestral  religion  and 
is  interwoven  with  the  thought  and  life  of  the  people 
from  their  earliest  days.  To  expect  a  rapid  ascendency 
of  Christian  truth  over  a  mind  thus  pre-empted  would 


130  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

be  foolish.  The  citadel  must  be  taken  by  the  slow  ap- 
proaches of  a  siege.  The  fundamental  doctrines  of 
Buddhism  are  so  opposite  to  those  of  Christianity,  that 
one  after  another  the  truths  of  Christianity  must  be 
patiently  established  before  a  full  and  final  acceptance 
of  the  Christian  religion  can  be  brought  about.  Wis- 
dom is  required  in  finding  the  opportunity  and  in  se- 
lecting the  special  truth  that  may  be  most  suitable  for 
the  time  and  occasion.  Local  circumstances  often  de- 
cide these  things.  A  courteous  and  candid  spirit 
should  always  be  maintained  even  in  most  trying  con- 
ditions. The  Buddhist  respects  the  man  who  has 
self-control,  as  it  is  one  of  the  strong  points  of  his 
moral  system.  The  great  points  of  difference,  God, 
the  world,  the  nature  of  man,  sin,  the  possibility  of 
salvation,  future  existence,  are  liable  to  produce  much 
friction  of  feeling,  if  not  strong  antagonism  in 
thought  and  action.  The  great  points  of  opposition 
cannot  be  avoided,  but  they  can  be  often  gradually 
approached  through  the  use  of  the  ethical  system. 
Every  true  missionary  will  candidly  acknowledge  the 
excellence  of  the  moral  precepts  and  use  them  and 
any  other  form  of  truth  in  the  Buddhist  faith.  They 
form  a  common  basis  of  opinion  whose  acknowledge- 
ment pleases  the  Buddhist  and  predisposes  him  to  give 
a  more  favorable  hearing  to  doctrines  which  are  not 
only  strange  and  have  no  place  in  his  religious  sys.tem, 
but  are  fundamentally  hostile  to  that  system. 

2.  Meeting  Objections. —  Objections  urged  against 
Christianity  should  be  frankly  discussed.  There  are 
many  natural  objections  which  inevitably  arise,  con- 
nected with  the  nature  of  God,  the  origin  of  evil,  the 
possibility  of  salvation,  the  virgin  birth  of  Christ,  and 


BUDDHISM   IN   SOUTHERN   ASIA 

the  right  to  take  animal  life  even  for  food.  Unfortu- 
nately among  the  Buddhists  who  have  come  under 
the  influence  of  Western  education,  books  like  those  of 
Haeckel  have  strengthened  natural  objections  in  many 
minds.  While  discussions  cannot  be  always  avoided, 
the  simple  presentation  of  the  truth  and  its  wonderful 
adaptability  to  our  highest  wants  is  generally  the  most 
effective  way  of  reaching  the  heart.  A  good  knowl- 
edge of  the  Buddhist  sacred  books  is  a  powerful  aid. 
Not  only  does  familiarity  with  these  books  insure  re- 
spect and  attention,  but  sometimes  statements  from 
them  can  be  used  with  great  force  and  effect  on  the 
side  of  truth. 

3.  Preaching  and  Private  Conversations. —  Public 
preaching  in  chapel  or  by  the  wayside  is  a  very  im- 
portant means  of  evangelization,  but  successive  private 
visits  with  those  who  seem  ready  to  listen  thoughtfully 
are  of  equal  importance.  Much  of  the  former  is  like 
the  seed  sown  by  the  wayside,  while  repeated  visits 
give  opportunity  to  nurse  the  fruitful  seed  when  it 
springs  up.  I  was  once  very  much  impressed  by  the 
remark  of  a  scholarly  native  who  assisted  me  in  the 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  and  after  a  year's  service 
was  baptized.  When  I  said  that  I  could  not  under- 
stand how  so  few  of  his  people  became  Christians,  he 
replied  that  he  had  heard  much  preaching  in  the 
bazaar  before  he  came  to  me,  but  it  was  fragmentary 
and  he  did  not  understand.  When  he  began  to  work 
on  the  New  Testament  day  by  day,  however,  the  truth 
grew  in  his  mind  until  he  was  ready  to  receive  it  as 
the  message  of  God  to  man. 


V.  BUDDHISM  IN  JAPAN 

BY  REV.  A.  D.  GRING,  M.A.,  B.D. 
For  Twenty-six  Years  a  Missionary  to  Japan 


133 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

See  in  addition  works  named  in  the  Bibliography  of  ch.  IV. 
*ATKINSON,   J.    L.     Prince    Siddartha,   the   Japanese    Buddha 

(1893). 

*BEAL,  S.     Buddhism  in  China  (1884). 
CLEMENT,  E.  W.    A  Handbook  of  Modern  Japan  (1903).    Pp. 

252-259. 
*DAVIDS,  T.  W.  RHYS.     Buddhism :  Being  a  Sketch  of  the  Life 

and   Teachings   of  Gautama,  the   Buddha    (1894).     Chs. 

VIII,  IX. 
DuBosE,    H.    C.    The   Dragon,    Image,    and   Demon    (1886). 

Chs.  X-XVIII. 
EDKINS,   J.     Chinese   Buddhism    (1880).    Especially   chs.   V- 

VII. 
GIBSON,   J.   C.    Mission   Problems   and    Mission   Methods   in 

South  China  (1901).    Pp.  99-118. 
GILMOUR,    J.    Among    the     Mongols     (1883).     Chs.     XVII, 

XVIII. 
GRAY,  J.  H.    China :    A  History  of  the  Laws,  Manners,  and 

Customs  of  the  People  (1878).     Vol.  I,  pp.  105-137. 
*GRIFFIS,  W.  E.     The  Religions  of  Japan  (1895).     Chs.  VI-X. 
GULICK,  S.  L.    Evolution  of  the  Japanese  (1905).     See  index 

under  "  Buddhism." 
HEARN,  L.    Japan,  an  Attempt  at  Interpretation  (1904).    Chs. 

X   XI 

HENRY,  B.  C.    The  Cross  and  the  Dragon  (1885).     Ch.  V. 
LLOYD,    A.    A.    "  Development    of    Japanese    Buddhism "    in 

Transactions  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Jo-pan,  vols.  XXI, 

XXII. 
MONIER- WILLIAMS,   M.     Buddhism   and   Its    Connexion   with 

Brahmanism    and    Hinduism    (1890).    Especially    Lects. 

VII,  XI. 

*NEVIUS,   J.  L.    China  and  the   Chinese    (1882).    Chs.   VII, 

VIII.  Popular. 

REIN,  J.    Japan:    Travels  and  Researches   (1884).     Pp.  448- 

463- 
RIJNHART,    S.    C.     With    the   Tibetans   in   Tent  and   Temple 

(1901).      Especially  chs.  VI,  VII. 
ROCKHILL,  W.  W.    The  Life  of  the  Buddha  (1884). 
*Sacred  Books  of  the  East.     Vol.  XIX. 
*SATOW  AND  HAWES.     Murray's  Handbook  for  Travellers  in 

Central  and  Northern  Japan    (1884).     Pp.   [7o]-[92]. 
*SAUSSAYE,    P.    D.    CHANTEPIE   DE   LA.     Lehrbuch    der    Reli- 

gionsgeschichte  (1005).     Bd.  I,  Ss.  104-114,  118-141. 
SCHLAGINTWEIT,  E.     Buddhism  in  Thibet  (1882). 
.WADDELL,  L.  A.    Lhasa  and  Its  Mysteries   (1905).     Chs.  II, 

XVII,  XIX.    Descriptive. 

*  Indicates  works  of  special  value  or  authority. 
134 


BUDDHISM  IN  JAPAN 

1.  Shintoism    Insufficient. — After    more    than    a 
thousand  years  of  undisputed  sway,  Shintoism,  "  God- 
way,"  the  indigenous  cult  of  Japan  and  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  ancestral  worship  of  China,  was  found  to 
be  unsatisfying  to  the  deeper  instincts  of  the  people. 
It  was  in  reality  no  religion  at  all.    It  lacked  in  all  the 
essentials  of  religion,  having  no  creed,  sanctions,  nor 
vetoes,  while  every  one  seemed  a  law  unto  himself. 
It   taught   nothing   concerning   another   life,    and   of 
definitive  and  positive  rules  for  correct  living  in  this 
life  it  was  also  silent.     The  consequent  failure  of  Shin- 
toism to  meet  the  spiritual  aspirations  of  the  people 
resulted  in  a  deeply  felt  need  of  a  new  religion,  and 
Buddhism  came  to  supply  this  need.     But  how  im- 
perfectly it  succeeded  in  this,  Buddhism's  subsequent 
history  in  Japan  abundantly  shows. 

II.  Korean  Introduction  of  Buddhism. —  i.  In- 
formal Efforts. —  The  formal  introduction  of  Buddhism 
in  Japan  was  made  in  the  year  522  A.  D.  Previous  to 
this  date,  however,  informal  efforts  were  made  by 
zealous  missionaries  to  spread  the  alien  faith,  with  ap- 
parently little  success.  The  first  Buddhist  temple  was 
erected  in  the  little  village  of  Sakatahara,  in  the 
Province  Yamato,  by  Shiba  Tatsu. 

2.  First  Two  Korean  Embassies. —  In  the  year  552 

J3S 


136  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

an  ambassador  from  the  King  of  Kudara  in  Korea 
brought  to  the  Court  of  Kimmei,  the  then  reigning  Em- 
peror of  Japan,  a  golden  image  of  Sakya-muni,  to- 
gether with  several  Buddhist  Sutras.  The  ambassa- 
dor was  received  respectfully  and  with  marked  favor 
by  the  Emperor  and  his  Prime  Minister,  Soga-no- 
Iname,  who  converted  one  of  his  mansions  into  a  tem- 
ple for  the  image  of  Buddha  and  the  Sutras.  The 
Emperor  and  other  members  of  the  Court,  however, 
opposed  the  introduction  of  foreign  gods,  especially 
the  worship  of  images.  The  result  was  that  when  an 
epidemic  broke  out  it  was  attributed  to  the  anger  of 
the  gods ;  whereupon  the  Emperor  caused  the  image  to 
be  thrown  into  the  sea  and  the  temple  built  for  it  to  be 
rased.  The  principal  men  who  stoutly  opposed  the 
introduction  of  Buddhism  were  Okoshi  and  Kumako, 
both  of  whom  perished  in  the  flames  that  consumed 
the  Emperor's  palace.  Another  delegation  of  nine 
priests  came  from  Korea  to  take  the  place  of  those 
previously  driven  away. 

3.  Third  Korean  Mission. —  After  the  expiration  of 
eighteen  years,  in  572  A.  D.,  during  the  reign  of  Bi- 
datsu,  son  of  the  Emperor  Kimmei  Sama,  a  third  mis- 
sion from  Kudara  was  received.     Its  members  were 
quartered  near  a  temple  in  the  neighborhood  of  Osaka. 
Umaka,  the  Prime  Minister,  together  with  high  of- 
ficials who  were  formerly  ambassadors  to  the  Court  of 
Korea  and  were  converts  of  Buddhism,  gave  this  mis- 
sion   much    assistance.     Its    personnel    consisted    of 
priests,  nuns,  carpenters,  image-makers,  and  diviners ; 
a  practical  and  complete  mission,  we  should  say. 

4.  Imperial  Favor. —  In  the  year  585  the  Emperor 
Yomei  did  much  to  advance  the  interests  of  this  new 


BUDDHISM    IN   JAPAN  137 

religion,  despite  the  feeling  against  it  on  the  part  of 
many  of  the  ruling  classes,  who  feared  the  increase 
of  Korean  influence  in  Japan  through  it.  At  his  death 
the  conflict  between  Shintoism  and  Buddhism  resulted 
in  an  open  rebellion,  in  which  Shintoism  was  defeated. 
In  the  year  588,  through  the  Emperor  Shujun's  favor, 
Buddhism  dominated  at  the  Court,  and  five  years  there- 
after the  Empress  Suiko  also  gave  what  influence  she 
wielded  to  the  cause  of  Buddhism. 

5.  Japanese  Buddhism's  Constantine. —  Her  great 
Prime  Minister,  Shotoku  Taishi  (572-621),  also  gave 
to  it  the  influence  of  his  learning  and  position.  He 
was  to  Buddhism  in  Japan  what  Asoka  was  to  Indian 
Buddhism  and  what  Constantine  was  to  Christianity 
in  Europe.  To  Shotoku  Taishi,  more  than  to  any 
other  single  individual,  must  be  given  the  credit  of  the 
complete  establishment  of  Buddhism  in  Japan.  With 
him  also  ends  the  Korean  period  of  Japanese  Bud- 
dhism. 

III.  Buddhist  Influences  from  China. — i.  Chi- 
nese Sects. —  From  this  time  onward  the  influence 
of  China  shows  itself.  The  Japanese  turned  from 
Korea  to  study  Buddhism  at  its  Chinese  centers.  They 
brought  back  during  the  next  century  a  number  of 
Chinese  Buddhist  sects,  all  based  upon  the  imperfect 
expositions  of  the  Hina-yana  or  "  Little  Vehicle." 
These  sects  must  be  looked  upon  as  so  many  schools 
of  thought,  or  interpretations  reflecting  the  mind  of 
students  of  Buddhism  in  China.  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of 
note  that  while  Buddhism  in  Japan  remained  in  the 
hands  and  control  of  Korean  and  Chinese  priests,  a 
period  of  about  400  years,  Buddhism  did  not  take 
definite  shape  as  a  native  institution  in  Japan. 


138  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

2.  Japan's  Two  Famous  Prelates. —  Buddhism  did 
not  begin  to  lay  hold  of  the  national  life  of  Japan, 
until  the  famous  Japanese  prelates  and  saints,  Kobo 
Daishi  and  Dengyo  Daishi,  returned  (805-816)  from 
China,  whither  they  were  sent  to  study  Buddhism  at 
Chinese  sources.  The  former  founded  the  great 
Shingon  sect,  the  latter  the  equally  great  Tendai  sect. 
These  great  preachers  and  teachers  of  Buddhism 
were  the  first  to  weld  the  alien  faith  and  the  indige- 
ous  cult  into  one  by  cleverly  devised  interpretations 
of  both,  and  Ryobu,  "  Two  Departments,"  was 
the  result.  Shintoism  and  Buddhism  from  this  time 
forth  dropped  their  opposition  and  differences  and 
went  on  their  way  together,  feeling  that  both  had  a 
mission  in  Japan,  differing  only  in  their  interpretations 
of  one  and  the  same  great  truth,  namely,  that  Ame- 
terasu  no  Mi  Kami,  the  .supreme  Shinto  deity,  together 
with  other  lesser  Shinto  gods,  were  in  reality  incar- 
nations of  Buddha.  From  this  time  forth  Buddhism 
took  firm  hold  upon  the  people  at  large  and  retained  its 
grip  with  greater  or  less  tenacity  until  within  recent 
years. 

IV.  Centuries  of  Prosperity. — i.  Court  Favor. — 
Never  was  a  faith  introduced  into  a  foreign  country 
with  brighter  prospects  of  success.  Nowhere  did 
Buddhism  receive  such  a  hearty  and  sustained  support 
from  the  Court  of  any  land  to  which  it  went  as  it  did 
in  that  of  Japan,  especially  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
centuries.  These  two,  together  with  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  when  the  four  principal  Japanese 
sects  arose,  may  be  called  very  fittingly  the  period  of 
greatest  religious  fervor  in  the  history  of  Japan. 

2.  Temple  Building  Era. —  During  the  first  of  these 


BUDDHISM    IN    JAPAN  139 

two  periods,  viz.,  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries, 
many  of  the  most  magnificent  temples  were  erected  at 
an  enormous  expense  and  were  richly  endowed.  Great 
quantities  of  gold,  silver,  and  bronze  were  used  in  the 
decorations  of  these  temples,  and  in  the  making  of 
images.  The  Emperor  Temmu  (673-686)  ordered  a 
Butsu-dan,  "  Buddha  place,"  to  be  placed  in  every 
house,  and  on  every  Butsu-dan  was  to  be  found  an 
image  of  Buddha.  A  few  of  the  great  temples  and 
shrines,  built  during  the  above  mentioned  period  of 
religious  fervor,  are  still  in  evidence,  as  the  great  tem- 
ple at  Nara,  and  the  celebrated  colossal  Dai-butsu, 
"  Great  Buddha,"  which  the  Emperor  Shomu  caused  to 
be  erected  as  a  memorial  of  the  reconciliation  of  Shinto- 
ism  and  Buddhism  in  Japan.  The  copper  used  in  the 
construction  of  this  magnificent  image  of  Buddha  was 
to  represent  Shintoism,  while  the  gold  was  intended 
to  represent  Buddhism. 

3.  Image-makers  Encouraged. —  Not  only  were  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  people  called  upon  to  set  apart  in 
their  homes  and  dwellings  what  might  be  called  ora- 
tories for  the  worship  of  Buddha,  but  princes  of  the 
blood  and  ministers  of  state  were  also  obliged  to  set 
apart  a  portion  of  their  mansions  for  the  same  pur- 
pose.    For  the  encouragement  of  image-makers,  rank 
and  rewards  were  settled  upon  them.     This  fact  may 
account  for  the  high  position  of  the  artisan  in  Japan 
and  the  many  beautiful  specimens  of  his  work  in  this 
country. 

4.  Women  Propagators  of  Buddhism. —  It  will  be 
interesting  to  note  the  large  part  which  the  women 
of  Japan  had  in  the  propagation  and  establishment  of 
Buddhism.     Here,  as  in  other  spheres,  they  have  as- 


I4O  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

sumed  an  honorable  role.  The  six  Empresses  who  held 
sway  during  the  period  between  591-759  were  all 
ardent  and  devoted  Buddhists  and  did  very  much  to 
give  the  religion  a  position  of  eminence.  The  Em- 
press Dowager  Koken  (749-758),  went  so  far  as  to 
organize  a  religious  government  distinct  from  the 
"  secular,  and  issued  orders  for  the  ruling  of  the  pub- 
lic and  private  lives  of  her  subjects.  Priests  were  ad- 
mitted to  a  share  in  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment. To  be  a  Buddhist  was  to  have  entree  to  society. 

An  inspiring  incident  in  the  life  of  the  Empress 
Komyo,  a.  devoted  Buddhist,  will  not  be  out  of  place 
here.  "  In  obedience  to  a  voice  audible  to  herself  alone 
she  made  a  vow  to  wash  with  her  own  hands  the  bodies 
of  a  thousand  beggars.  The  task  had  been  completed 
as  far  as  999,  when  there  presented  himself  a  loath- 
some leper  covered  with  revolting  sores.  The  coura- 
geous woman  did  not  hesitate.  She  proceeded  to  wash 
the  leper;  and  when  he  told  her  that  if  there  were 
found  in  all  the  world  any  woman  sufficiently  merciful 
to  draw  the  venom  from  his  sores  with  her  mouth,  he 
should  be  healed,  she  did  him  that  service.  Thereupon 
the  place  was  filled  with  dazzling  effulgence ;  an  ex- 
quisite aroma  diffused  itself  around,  and  the  leper  de- 
claring himself  the  Buddha  disappeared."  (Brinkley.) 

V.  Explanation  of  Japan's  Ready  Acceptance  of 
Buddhism. — We  come  now  to  ask  two  very  important 
questions,  and  to  partially  answer  them. 

i.  Open-mindedness  and  Love  of  Learning. —  First: 
What  characteristic  attitude  of  mind  was  there  in  the 
people  of  Japan  that  led  both  the  Court,  and  later  the 
people  at  large,  to  give  this  alien  Indian  creed  such  a 
warm  and  genuine  reception?  What  peculiar  charm 


BUDDHISM    IN    JAPAN  14! 

enabled  Buddhism  to  put  even  the  Court  of  Japan  to 
school,  as  it  were,  as  eager  and  ardent  students  under 
foreign  teachers,  and  their  priests  to  study  a  foreign  re- 
ligion which  in  its  essence  could  leave  no  room  for 
Shintoism?  Never  in  the  history  of  education  do  we 
meet  with  a  school  similar  to  that  of  the  Court  of 
Yamato,  where  the  instructors  were  foreign  priests  and 
the  pupils  emperors  and  empresses,  princes  and  prin- 
cesses of  the  blood-royal.  We  might  answer  this 
question  by  suggesting  a  number  of  reasons,  but  we 
will  confine  ourselves  to  two  only.  First,  the  open- 
mindedness  of  the  people;  second,  an  innate  and  ever 
present  desire  to  learn  and  progress.  The  open  charac- 
ter of  their  island  empire,  looking  from  all  sides  out 
into  the  open  sea,  seems  in  some  mysterious  way  to 
have  imparted  the  same  characteristic  to  the  people 
who  inhabit  it.  From  the  earliest  dawn  of  their  his- 
tory, while  living  through  long  periods  of  seclusion  and 
isolation,  they  have  nevertheless  kept  their  minds  ever 
alert  to  new  and  outside  impressions.  They  have  an 
insatiate  thirst  for  knowledge  and  a  laudable  ambition 
to  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  foreigner,  what- 
ever his  name  or  color.  When  Buddhism  entered 
from  the  great  Empire  of  China,  her  learned  priests 
found  the  attitude  of  the  Court  to  be  that  of  a  polite, 
modest,  and  willing  student,  possessed  of  an  open  and 
inquiring  mind. 

2.  Buddhism's  Hopes  and  Aspirations. —  Second, 
What  did  the  Court  of  Japan,  and  later  the  people  at 
large,  see  in  Buddhism  that  appealed  to  them  so 
strongly?  Whatever  else  the  Court  saw  in  Buddhism 
they  did  not  fail  to  see  in  it  a  splendid  organization  and 
a  richly  laden  vehicle  of  a  civilization,  literature,  arts, 


142  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION  FIELDS 

and  philosophy  far  superior  to  their  own.  The  peo- 
ple saw  in  Buddhism  a  divine  tolerance,  a  gorgeous 
ritual,  definitive  moral  vetoes  and  sanctions,  and  glow- 
ing promises  of  a  future  happy  life  as  the  possible  aim 
of  all.  They  saw  in  its  wide  tolerance  spiritual  libera- 
tion, since  Buddhism  opened  the  way  for  every  person, 
irrespective  of  rank  and  social  position,  to  reach  the 
highest  stage  of  spiritual  development.  It  not  only 
made  it  possible  for  every  one  to  become  a  Buddha, 
but,  indeed,  urged  upon  all  to  make  this  their  sole  aim. 
The  Imperial  family,  patricians,  and  plebeians  could 
alike  aspire  to  reach  the  same  goal.  None  could  re- 
ceive more,  and  no  one  should  be  content  with  less. 
It  invited  all  without  distinction  to  the  society  of  the 
gods.  This  divine  charity  for  all  men  came  as  a  great 
spiritual  relief,  especially  to  the  lower  classes,  who,  in 
the  eyes  of  Shintoism,  were  excluded  from  all  hope  of 
ever  being  admitted  to  the  society  of  their  deities,  or 
yet  to  the  society  of  the  Imperial  and  patrician  classes. 
Shintoism  taught  that  the  distinctions  which  exist  on 
earth  will  also  exist  in  the  future  world,  and  there- 
fore for  them  there  was  little  hope,  either  here  or  here- 
after, of  passing  beyond  the  narrow  confines  which 
their  birth  imposed  upon  them.  They  saw  in  Bud- 
dHfsm  what  we  see  in  Christianity,  an  unbounded  sym- 
pathy and  tolerance  for  all  persons.  Righteousness 
was  the  only  standard  to  which  kings  and  subjects 
alike  might  aspire.  The  gorgeous  ritual,  the  impos- 
ing architecture,  the  reverential  worship,  and  the  glow- 
ing and  inspiring  hopes  of  a  future  life  all  appealed 
powerfully  to  the  humble  classes  especially  whose  life 
was  full  of  toil  and  sorrows,  but  in  whose  hearts 


BUDDHISM    IN    JAPAN  143 

nevertheless  burns  the  fire  of  discontent  and  noble 
aspirations. 

3.  Buddhism  the  Source  of  Japan's  Civilisation. — 
We  may  safely  say,  therefore,  that  of  all  the  many 
helpful  and  elevating  inspirations  which  Japan  for 
centuries  received  from  her  great  neighbor  on  the  west, 
there  are  none  that  can  begin  to  compare  in  point  of 
influence  and  uplift  with  those  received  through 
Buddhism.  It  would  be  impossible  to  specify  what 
these  benefits  were,  since  it  would  be  tantamount  to 
writing  the  history  of  Japan  with  almost  infinite  de- 
tail for  more  than  twelve  centuries,  so  thoroughly  and 
completely  did  this  Indian  creed,  especially  in  its  modi- 
fied forms,  encircle  and  permeate  every  department  of 
her  private  and  national  life.  While  it  would  be  in- 
correct to  say  that  Buddhism  brought  only  good  to 
Japan,  nevertheless  the  good  it  brought  far  outweighed 
the  evil. 

VI.  The  Buddhism  of  Japan. —  I.  Adapted  to 
National  Needs. —  As  in  various  parts  of  India  and 
China,  so  in  Japan  Buddhism  underwent  many  modifi- 
cations. It  was  always  ready  to  compromise,  always 
ready  to  adapt  itself  to  existing  beliefs  and  super- 
stitions. In  no  country  were  these  compromises 
greater  and  more  frequent  than  in  Japan.  The  buoy- 
ant, nervous,  practical,  and  resourceful  Japanese,  ever 
desirous  for  quick  results,  found  in  Buddhism  much 
that  did  not  appeal  to  them;  consequently,  with  that 
peculiar  genius  for  eclecticism  which  especially 
distinguishes  them  from  all  other  peoples,  they  began 
to  adapt  it  to  their  needs.  The  interminable  fastings, 
sacrifices,  penances,  prayers,  seclusions  were  distasteful 
ind  irritating  to  the  peculiar  temperament  of  the  peo- 


144  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

pie.  The  endless  aeons  through  which  the  soul  was 
obliged  to  pass  before  it  reached  the  point  of  absorp- 
tion into  Nirvana  (Nihan)  were  made  to  give  place  to 
the  general  doctrine  that  the  soul  of  man  immediately 
after  the  death  of  the  body  enters  upon  its  final  state, 
the  society  of  the  gods. 

2.  What  Gautama  Thought  of  Himself. —  In  speak- 
ing to  his  disciples  on  one  occasion,  he  made  these 
claims  for  himself :  "  Those  only  who  do  not  believe, 
call  me  Gautama  Siddartha;  but  you  call  me  Buddha, 
the  Blessed  One,  and  Teacher.  This  is  right,  for  I 
have  even  in  this  life  entered  Nirvana,  and  the  life 
of  Gautama  Siddartha  has  been  extinguished.  Self 
has  disappeared  and  the  truth  has  taken  its  abode  in 
me.  This  body  of  mine  is  Gautama's  body,  which 
will  be  dissolved  in  due  time;  and  after  its  dissolu- 
tion, no  one,  neither  God  nor  man,  will  see  Gautama 
Siddartha  again.  But  Buddha  will  not  die;  Buddha 
will  continue  to  live  in  the  holy  body  of  the  law. 

"  The  extinction  of  the  Blessed  One  will  be  by  that 
passing  away  in  which  nothing  remains  that  could 
tend  to  the  formation  of  another  self.  Nor  will  it 
be  possible  to  point  out  the  Blessed  One  as  being  here 
or  there.  But  it  will  be  like  a  great  body  of  flaming 
fire.  That  flame  has  ceased;  it  has  vanished,  and  it 
cannot  be  said  that  it  is  here  or  there.  In  the  body 
of  the  dharma  [the  original,  natural  condition  of 
things  or  beings,  the  law  of  their  existence],  the 
Blessed  One,  however,  can  be  pointed  out;  for  the 
dharma  has  been  preached  by  the  Blessed  One. 

''  Ye  are  my  children,  I  am  your  father ;  through 
me  ye  have  been  released  from  your  sufferings.  I 
myself,  having  reached  the  other  shore,  help  others 


BUDDHISM    IN    JAPAN  145 

to  cross  the  stream.  I  myself,  having  attained  salva- 
tion, am  a  Savior  of  others;  being  comforted,  I  com- 
fort others  and  lead  others  to  the  place  of  refuge.  I 
shall  fill  with  joy  all  the  beings  whose  limbs  languish ; 
I  shall  give  happiness  to  those  who  are  dying  from 
distress ;  I  shall  extend  to  them  succor  and  deliver- 
ance. I  was  born  into  the  world  as  the  King  of  Truth 
for  the  Salvation  of  the  world.  The  Subject  on 
which  I  meditate  is  truth.  The  practice  to  which 
I  devote  myself  is  truth.  The  topic  of  my  con- 
versation is  truth.  My  thoughts  are  always  in  the 
truth.  For  lo!  myself  has  become  the  truth.  I  am 
the  truth.  Whosoever  comprehendeth  the  truth,  he 
will  see  the  Blessed  One,  for  the  truth  has  been 
preached  by  the  Blessed  One." — (Per  Paul  Carus). 

3.  Four  Favors  and  their  Obligations. — The  three 
great  "  Vehicles  "  of  Buddhist  teachings,  viz.,  Hina- 
yana,  "  Little  Vehicle,"  the  Maha-yana,  "  Great 
Vehicle,",  and  the  Eka-yana,  "  One  Vehicle,"  all  well- 
nigh  endless,  were  summarized  for  practical  purposes, 
particularly  for  the  common  people,  into  what  are 
called  the  "  Four  Favors,"  Shi  On,  and  the  "  Ten 
Commandments,"  Ju  Zen.  By  the  "  Four  Favors " 
are  meant  the  benefits  which  men  have  received  from 
four  principal  sources,  viz.,  favor  received  from  our 
parents  and  the  favors  received  from  mankind  and  all 
creation.  The  obligations  which  we  owe  to  all  man- 
kind and  to  creation  are  four-fold :  The  obligations 
to  abstain  from  selfishness  and  covetousness ;  the  ob- 
ligation to  speak  kind  words ;  the  duty  of  giving  prac- 
tical aid  when  possible ;  the  duty  of  dealing  impartially 
with  all  men.  These  obligations  assume  that  the  whole 
of  sentient  life  stands  related  to  man  as  his  mother,  sis- 


146  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

ter,  and  brother.  As  the  Japanese  have  beautifully  ex- 
pressed it :  "  All  males  are  my  father ;  all  females 
are  my  mother;  all  creatures  are  my  parents  and  my 
masters." 

4.  Commandments  and  Prohibitions. —  The  ten  pro- 
hibitions,  or  commandments,  are  divided  into  three 
groups  according  to  the  sources  from  which  the  sin 
proceeds,  viz.,  three  from  the  body,   four  from  the 
mouth,  three  from  the  will.     Group  i:     I.  Prohibition 
against  taking  life ;  II.  Prohibition  against  theft ;  III. 
Prohibition  against  adultery  and  impurity.     Group  2: 
IV.  Prohibition  against  lying ;  V.  Prohibition  against 
equivocation,    or     jesting;     VI.  Prohibition     against 
abusive    language;    VII.  Prohibition    against    back- 
biting and  a  double  tongue.     Group  j:     VIII.  Prohibi- 
tion against  covetousness ;  IX.  Prohibition  against  an- 
ger;    X.  Prohibition     against     harboring     depraved 
thoughts. 

In  common  thought,  however,  those  most  empha- 
sized are  the  five  negative  prohibitory  precepts, 
(Gokai),  viz.,  do  not  take  life;  do  not  steal,  or  be 
dishonest;  do  not  be  lewd;  do  not  lie;  do  not  drink 
intoxicants. 

5.  Karma,  or  Ingwa. —  Through  lust  men  are  sup- 
posed to  be  involved  in  an  endless  chain  of  cause  and 
effect,  Karma,  Japanese  Ingwa.    Every  effect  here  has 
its  cause  in  some  previous  state,  and  every  act  here 
will  culminate  in  the  future  state.     It  is  this  law  that 
causes  all  men  to  be  born  in  either  one  of  the  six  paths, 
or  worlds,  by  which  men  pass  on  to  Nirvana.     These 
paths  are  as  follows:     The  path  of  hell;  the  path,  or 
world,  of  torment,  where  spirits  are  punished  with 
hunger;  the  path,  or  world,  of  beasts;  the  path,  or 


BUDDHISM    IN   JAPAN  147 

world,  of  disembodied  spirits,  filled  with  fightings  and 
slaughter;  the  path,  or  world,  of  men;  the  path,  or 
world,  of  heaven. 

6.  The  Way  of  Life. —  In  order  to  successfully  pass 
through  these  six  worlds,  three  precious  things,  viz., 
Buddha,  the  Law,  and  the  Church,  must  ever  be  kept 
in  mind.     Moreover,  it  is  necessary  for  the  disciple  to 
put  away  from  him  women,  royal  palaces,  beautiful 
things,  and  riches,  and  ever  keep  with  him  the  spirit 
of  wisdom,  the  love  of  truth,  patience  and  firmness,  and 
a  retired  life.     The  Rev.  Mr.  Unsho  informs  us  that 
the  disciples  of  Buddhism  in  the  practice  of  its  injunc- 
tions must  acquire  certain  attitudes  of  mind,  such  as 
the  investing  mind,  the  decided  mind,  and  the  con- 
fessed mind.     In  addition  to  the  above  injunctions,  we 
have  what  is  known  as  the  intellectual  ladder,  which 
we  omit. 

7.  Resultant  Desires. —  After  the  faithful  practice  of 
the  six  paths  the  faithful  disciple  experiences  certain 
laudable  desires.     He  desires  to  save  others,  as  well  as 
himself.     Though   living   creatures   are    innumerable, 
yet  he  has  a  desire  to  save  them  all,  if  he  can.     Though 
passions  and  lusts  are  endless,  he  has  a  desire  to  con- 
quer them  all.     Though  the  doctrines  of  Buddhism  are 
infinite  in  number,  he  has  a  desire  to  learn  them  all. 
Though  final  salvation  is  far  removed  from  him,  he 
desires  by  the  faithful  practice  of  the  six  paths  to  final- 
ly attain  unto  it. 

8.  Changes   Introduced   by   Japanese. —  The   above 
summary  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  almost  interminable 
philosophic    speculations    and    dissertations    of    later 
scholars,    superimposed    upon    the    once    simple    and 
original  creed  of  Gautama,  the  Buddha.     It  was  this 


148  RELIGIONS  OF  MISSION   FIELDS 

overloading  of  the  simple  creed  of  Buddha  with  end- 
less injunctions  and  traditions  of  scholars  that  made  it 
so  burdensome  and  impracticable  to  the  energetic, 
buoyant,  enterprising  Japanese.  Their  demand  was 
for  a  work-a-day  religion,  and  their  priests  were  equal 
to  the  occasion.  They  transformed  the  chrysalis  of 
Indian  and  Chinese  Buddhism,  as  presented  to  them, 
into  a  highly  colored  butterfly.  Death  was  no  longer 
annihilation  of  all  personality,  but  it  was  made  the 
very  gate  of  an  eternal,  actual  beatitude.  The  con- 
templating and  selfish  life  of  the  recluse  was  no 
longer  encouraged ;  on  the  contrary,  men  were  urged  to 
enter  upon  a  life  of  active  charity  among  the  people. 
Ingwa,  the  endless  chain  of  cause  and  effect,  was  re- 
duced to  a  single  link.  Nihan  (Nirvana)  practically 
ceased  to  be  taught  to  the  people,  for  the  very  simple 
reason  that  no  one  could  explain  it.  The  essence  of  a 
thousand  Sutras  was  couched  in  a  phrase  like  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"  Abstain  from  evil  practice ;  practice  thou  the  good, 
Cleansing  the  heart,  for  this  is  Buduhahood." 

And  in  place  of  the  long  and  numerous  prayers,  the 
Namu  Amida  Butsu,  "  We  pray  thee,  eternal  Bud- 
dha," and  the  Namu  ame  Horen-ge-kyo,  "  We  pray 
thee,  Sutra  of  the  Lotus  of  the  wonderful  law,"  etc., 
are  used. 

9.  The  Sects. —  While  Chinese  Buddhism  was  in- 
finitely more  complete  than  Shintoism,  except  in  the 
matter  of  simplicity  of  worship,  still  it  came  limping 
into  Japan,  weakened  by  its  many  sects  and  the  low 
moral  standard  of  its  priesthood.  In  Japan  the  num- 
ber of  these  divisions  necessarily  grew ;  and  the  moral 


fct7DDHISM    IN    JAPAN  149 

and  intellectual  standards  of  the  Japanese  priests,  with 
a  few  notable  exceptions,  rose  no  higher  than  the 
standards  of  the  Chinese  and  Korean  priests  who  pre- 
ceded them.  The  founders  of  the  principal  Japanese 
sects,  the  Jodp,  Shinshu,  the  Zen,  and  the  Nichiren 
sects,  were  great  men  in  their  way;  but  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  priesthood  never  attained,  as  a  class,  to  a 
high  standing  among  the  people,  either  for  morality 
or  learning. 

10.  Sects  a  Revelation  of  the  Japanese  Mind. —  We 
regret  very  much  that  we  cannot  enter  upon  a  study  of 
these  Japanese  sects  of  Buddhism.  In  no  department 
of  Japanese  history  can  the  student  get  a  more  inter- 
esting and  clear  insight  into  the  working  of  the  mind 
of  Japan  than  in  the  study  of  the  differences  of  these 
sects;  since  through  the  transformations  and  modifica- 
tions to  which  Buddhism  was  subjected,  we  catch 
glimpses  of  the  Japanese  instinct  and  genius  for  eclec- 
ticism. Japan's  national  stomach  is  much  like  that  of 
America.  Its  digestive  and  assimilative  powers  are 
enormous ;  for  whatever  is  taken  into  it  from  whatever 
outside  source,  it  matters  not  what  its  nature  may  be, 
is  readily  digested  and  assimilated,  enriching  the  life- 
blood  of  the  nation.  Every  new  thought,  every  new 
invention,  indeed  everything  that  reaches  Japan  from 
abroad,  is  made  to  pass  through  the  same  process. 
Buddhism  proved  no  exception  to  the  rule.  Its 
transcendental  and  philosophical  subtleties  and  myster- 
ies subjected  the  practical  mind  of  the  Japanese  to  too 
excessive  a  strain.  It  wearied  and  oppressed,  rather 
than  buoyed  up  the  already  tired  and  depressed  strug- 
glers  with  life's  burdens ;  and  the  result  was  that  they 
set  about  to  adapt  it  to  the  peculiar  genius  of  their 


I5O  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

people.  The  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
however,  and  a  future  world  where  dwell  the  souls  of 
their  departed,  was  never  suffered  to  die  out. 

VII.  Organization  of  Japanese  Buddhism. — 
i.  The  Hierarchy. —  The  organization  of  Buddhism  is 
much  like  that  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  In  the  capital 
resides  the  high  priest,  called  Zako,  having  virtually 
the  same  prerogatives  accorded  to  the  Pope  of  Rome. 
He  has  the  power  of  canonization  of  saints.  He 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  Buddhist  hierarchy.  He 
elevates  and  consecrates  to  offices  similar  to  those  of 
bishops  and  abbots.  The  Buddhist  clergy  are  on  a  par 
with  monks  and  friars  and  live  together  in  monaster- 
ies under  their  superiors.  They  were  divided  into  a 
number  of  orders  no  more  nor  less  hostile  to  each 
other,  than  were  the  Dominicans  to  the  Franciscans,  or 
both  to  the  Jesuits. 

2.  Vagabond  Priests. —  Besides  the  priests  in  regu- 
lar orders  there  were  enthusiasts,  impostors  and  vaga- 
bonds who  made  their  living  by  begging  and  exploit- 
ing the  ignorant  and  superstitious.     They  pretended  to 
be  able  to  drive  away  evil  spirits ;  to  find  things  that 
were  lost;  to  discover  robbers;  to  determine  the  guilt 
or  innocence  of  accused  parties;  to  interpret  dreams 
and  predict  the  future;  to  heal  desperate  marriages; 
and  to  perform  astonishing  feats  through  the  medium 
of  a  child,  instead  of  through  a  table.     This  was  done 
by  causing  a  spirit  to  enter  the  child  who  was  able  to 
answer  any  question  that  might  be  asked. 

3.  Church    and    State. —  Church    and    State    were 
kept  distinct.     The  priests  possessed  no  direct  power 
by  law.     There  could  be  no  appeal   to  the   secular 
arm.     There  were  no  civil  punishments   for  heresy. 


BUDDHISM    IN   JAPAN"  l$l 

There  were  no  religious  laws  perpetually  binding. 
Every  one,  as  far  as  the  civil  law  was  concerned, 
could  enter  or  leave  the  monasteries  at  pleasure.  The 
Buddhist  priests  of  to-day  also  have  no  rank,  and 
their  temples  are  not  graded.  The  priests  lived  on 
what  their  parishioners  contributed  and  on  the  in- 
come of  grants  of  land  of  great  value  made  to  temples 
in  old  times,  but  which  at  the  Restoration  in  1868 
were  greatly  reduced.  Buddhism  was  finally,  and  we 
venture  to  say,  forever,  disestablished  in  Japan  in 
1884.  Whereupon  a  striking  and  suggestive  fact 
was  revealed,  viz.,  that  while  Shintoism  and  Bud- 
dhism, under  the  name  Ryobu,  for  more  than  seven 
centuries  were  one,  to  the  people  at  least,  yet  when 
the  time  came  for  the  disestablishment  of  Buddhism, 
they  fell  apart,  and  Shintoism,  the  indigenous  faith 
of  the  land,  remained  essentially  intact  as  it  was 
from  the  beginning. 

VIII.  Temples  and  the  Devout  Buddhist. —  i. 
Temples  and  Shrines. —  Buddhism  filled  Japan  with 
magnificent  and  stately  temples  and  shrines.  There 
is  scarcely  a  beautiful  spot  to  be  found  which  has  not 
been  associated  with  it  in  some  way.  Seemingly 
from  everywhere  come  the  peals  of  their  deep-toned 
bells.  There  is  no  landscape,  nor  seascape,  but 
owes  much  of  its  attractiveness  and  beauty  to  its  tem- 
ples and  shrines.  No  city,  town,  or  village  com- 
munity is  complete  without  the  presence  of  its  pic- 
turesque priests.  Buddhism  has  been  at  work  in 
Japan  for  more  than  1,200  years  and  has  virtually 
filled  the  land  and  taken  possession  of  it  with  her  108,- 
ooo  temples  and  her  54,000  priests.  In  every  home 
almost, —  not  Christian, —  is  an  oratory  for  the  wor- 
ship of  Buddha.  In  every  such  oratory  is  a  Butsudan. 


152  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

2.  Home   Religion. —  Every   home,   however   hum- 
ble, is,  in  a  way,  but  a  miniature  temple;  and  here  in 
some   form,  as  in  the  temple,  daily  service  is  said. 
Before  every  Butsu-dan,  at  some  time  during  the  day 
or  evening,  is  heard  the  pathetic  Namu  Amida  Butsu, 
or  the  Namu  Ame  H6ren-ge-kyo.    Japan,  though  out- 
wardly so  buoyant  and  happy,  is  full  of  sorrowing 
hearts,  and  to  these  Buddhism  addressed  itself  with 
great  acceptance.     Shintoism,  on  the  contrary,  taught 
that  persons  in  sorrow  and  distress  were  unfit  subjects 
for  the  worship  of  the  gods. 

3.  The  Devout  Buddhist  at  Home. — With  the  daum 
of  day  the  devout  Buddhist,  immediately  on  waking, 
rises    from    his    bed    of    futons  —  cotton-lined    quilts 
spread  on  the  mats  at  night  for  sleeping  purposes  — 
and  begins  to  fold  them  up  for  the  purpose  of  replac- 
ing them  in  the  closet  prepared  for  them.     While  do- 
ing  so   he   repeats   a   four-lined   metrical   prayer,   in 
which  is  expressed  the  hope  that,  just  as  he  now  folds 
up  his  futons  to  be  placed  in  their  proper  place  for 
the  day,  so  also  may  all  the  various  relations  of  his 
life  be  raised  from  their  sleep  of  delusion  and  be  rele- 
gated to  their  proper  spheres.     Again,  when  he  washes 
his  hands  and  face,  he  accompanies  this  act  with  the 
prayer  that  all  his  relationships  included  in  the  Shi  On, 
Four  Favors,  may  be  purified,  even  as  now  his  face 
and  hands  are  being  purified  by  water.     He  then  re- 
pairs to  the  household  shrine,  the  Butsu-dan,  in  his 
house  for  worship.     First,  there  is  an  act  of  thanks- 
giving  for   mercies   received   through   the    Buddhas. 
Then  follows  a  prayer  for  grace  that  he  may  imitate 
them  in  all  pure  and  virtuous  living.     Then  follows 
a  confession  of  sins.     By  sins  he  means  not  only  his 


BUDDHISM   IN  JAPAN  153 

misdoings  in  this  life,  but  those  also  of  his  long  pre- 
vious existence  which  have  kept  him  so  inextricably 
entangled  in  the  cycle  of  life  and  death.  Following 
the  confession  comes  the  reciting  of  his  creed,  in 
which  he  looks  for  salvation  alone  to  the  Trinity  of 
Refuges,  viz.,  the  Buddhas,  the  Law,  and  the  Church. 
Next  in  order  come  the  Ten  Commandments,  the 
Ju  Zen,  which  he  repeats  and  makes  an  act  of  obe- 
dience to.  Then  he  repeats  three  or  four  mantras  or 
Shin-gon,  hymns,  or  incantations.  Then,  if  he  belongs 
to  the  Shin-gon  Sect  of  Buddhism,  he  will  repeat  a 
verse  in  honor  of  the  great  founder  of  his  Sect,  Kobo 
Daishi,  and  following  it  with  a  recitation  of  the 
hymnary  of  the  Decalogue  and  a  mass  for  the  dead. 
An  act  of  reverence  to  the  gods  of  the  country  and  also 
a  memorial  to  his  parents  brings  his  morning  wor- 
ship before  the  household  shrine  to  a  close. 

He  now  proceeds  to  the  dining  hall,  or  refectory. 
Here,  while  arranging  the  table  or  preparing  the  meal, 
he  keeps  repeating  fomularies.  Preparation  being 
completed,  of  the  things  prepared  he  makes  his  of- 
ferings,—  one  spoonful  in  honor  of  all  the  Buddhas, 
one  in  honor  of  all  the  saints,  one  in  honor  of  all  sen- 
tient beings  within  the  Six  Spheres  of  Existence. 
These  sacrifices  made  and  before  beginning  his  meal, 
he  directs  his  attention  to  the  danger  and  temptation 
to  which  he  may  be  subjecting  his  soul  should  he  for- 
get to  exercise  self-restraint  in  partaking  of  his  food 
and  drink.  By  the  practice  of  self-examinations  he 
must  recall  his  own  past  failings,  a  very  necessary  and 
important  exercise. 

Having  finished  all  the  prescribed  preliminary  de- 
votions and  duties,  he  is  now  ready  to  begin  his  meal. 


154  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

Taking  up  the  chop-stick  with  his  right  hand  and  his 
bowl  of  broth  or  rice  with  his  left,  he  proceeds  to  eat 
in  silence  and  ends  his  meal  with  an  act  of  thanksgiv- 
ing, which  is  continued  during  the  cleansing  of  the 
vessels  used  in  the  meal. 

He  is  now  ready  for  his  day's  work,  which  he  again 
begins  and  sanctifies  by  a  short  ejaculatory  prayer. 
The  noon-day  meal  is  again  accompanied  by  acts  of 
prayer  and  thanksgiving  similar  to  those  of  the  morn- 
ing meal;  so  also  with  the  evening  meal. 

At  sunset,  or  thereabout,  he  again  repairs  to  the 
household  shrine  to  worship  as  he  did  in  the  morn- 
ing. At  bedtime  a  compline,  consisting  of  two  other 
short  prayers,  is  said,  and  the  day  ends  as  it  began 
and  was  continued,  m  prayer,  and  the  devout  Bud- 
dhist, lies  down  on  a  bed  of  futons  on  his  matted  floor, 
at  peace  with  himself  and  with  all  the  world — so  far 
as  he  knows  it. 

4.  The  Devout  Buddhist  in  the  Temple. —  To  the 
devout  Buddhist,  his  home  and  his  city  or  village  tem- 
ple are  both  places  for  worship.  The  one  is  private 
for  the  family  and  himself,  while  the  other  is  public 
and  for  the  community.  To  the  prelate,  of  course,  the 
service  and  worship  in  the  public  temple  is  quite  an- 
other thing  from  that  in  the  home,  being  more  formal 
and  ornate.  To  the  nominal  Buddhist  layman,  however, 
the  relations  between  the  village  or  city  temple  and 
his  home  are  not  very  close.  There  are  certain  things 
that  he  can  do  only  at  the  village  or  city  temple.  He 
will  repair  thither  with  the  family  to  celebrate  the  an- 
niversary of  their  departed  relatives.  He  will  go  to 
the  temple  to  listen  to  practical  and  clever  sermons  by 
the  priests.  In  some  temples  he  may  hear  preaching 


BUDDHISM    IN   JAPAN  155 

every  day,  in  others  once  or  twice  in  every  ten  days, 
and  in  still  others  only  once  or  twice  in  two  or  three 
months.  He  is  a  member  of  the  temple.  He  pays 
and  subscribes  money  for  its  support,  which  gives  him 
a  voice  in  the  appointment  of  the  priest  in  charge.  On 
the  door  or  doorpost  of  his  house  he  has  posted  a 
notice  to  indicate  to  what  sect  he  belongs,  which  serves 
many  useful  purposes  and  is  especially  convenient  to 
beggar  friars,  who  go  about  the  streets  asking  alms 
and  repeating  prayers. 

5.  His  Funeral. —  When  he  changes  worlds,  it  is 
the  pious  duty  of  his  family  and  friends  to  give  his 
body  a  suitable  burial.  At  the  conclusion  of  a  short 
service  by  the  priest  at  the  home,  the  body  is  reverently 
borne  to  the  temple,  where  the  service  at  the  house  is 
completed  in  a  more  formal  manner.  There  the  priest 
gives  him  a  new  name,  which  is  inscribed  upon  his 
tombstone  or  tablet,  and  by  this  name  he  is  known  in 
the  spirit  world.  Thus  ends  all  that  is  mortal  in  the 
life  of  a  Buddhist  in  Japan. 

IX.  Buddhism  Wanting. —  I.  Japan  Realizes  It. 
—  In  nothing,  perhaps,  have  the  Japanese  been  so 
misunderstood  as  in  their  religion.  Some  have  in- 
formed us  that  they  are  a  highly  irreligious  people 
and  wholly  given  over  to  rationalism;  but  their  his- 
tory, their  art,  their  customs,  their  literature,  and  their 
daily  life  show  them  to  be  quite  the  reverse.  Their 
gods  are  numbered  by  the  millions,  while  their  su- 
perstitions have  led  them  into  the  most  extravagant 
forms  of  worship.  Every  one  who  has  deeply  studied 
this  great  cult  must  have  realized  its  impractical  and 
unsatisfying  character  and  seen  how  illy  adapted  it 
is  to  become  the  religion  of  an  enlightened  world, 


156  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

notwithstanding  the  fact  that  to-day  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions of  Asiatics  call  themselves  Buddhists.  No  one 
for  a  moment  questions  both  the  organizing  and 
civilizing  mission  of  Buddhism  in  the  East.  No  one 
doubts  that  Christianity  itself  will  yet  acknowledge 
its  debt  of  gratitude  to  Buddhism  as  its  great  fore- 
runner in  the  Orient.  But  that  the  East  will  always 
be  satisfied  with  Buddhism  for  its  religion,  no  one  who 
has  studied  its  many  radical  changes  and  modifica- 
tions can  for  a  moment  believe. 

2.  Buddha  and  Jesus. —  Sakya-muni  will  ever  loom 
large  and  be  honored  and  revered  as  long  as  the 
memory  of  man  traverses  the  great  past.  He  will  be 
loved  for  his  divine  tolerance  and  charity  for  all 
men.  He  will  be  admired  for  what  he  attempted  to 
do  for  mankind  more  than  for  what  he  actually  did 
for  them.  He  will  ever  be  looked  upon  as  a  great 
benefactor,  but  never  will  he  continue  to  hold  and 
command  the  faith  of  the  East,  even  as  he  cannot, 
and  does  not  now,  hold  that  of  the  West.  Of  man, 
of  the  soul,  of  the  present  and  future  life,  the  burn- 
ing questions  of  mankind  in  every  age  and  in  every 
clime,  he  thought  deeply;  but  he  fails  to  satisfy  men, 
although  the  world  has  reverently  sat  at  his  feet  for 
centuries  to  learn  what  he  had  to  say  on  these  sub- 
jects which  so  deeply  and  so  continually  stirred  it. 
It  will  yet  turn  reverently  away  from  this  great  per- 
sonality and  teacher  to  stand  beside  the  open  sepul- 
cher  on  that  first  Easter  morn  in  Jerusalem,  and  it 
will  see  more  in  that  empty  tomb  of  the  risen  Jesus 
than  in  all  of  Gautama's  philosophy  and  dreams.  It  is 
there  that  it  will  find  the  answers  to  its  inquiries.  So, 
too,  the  East,  unfilled  and  unsatisfied,  will  turn  from 


BUDDHISM    IN    JAPAN  157 

the  creed  of  Buddha  and  the  endless  subtleties  and 
philosophical  theories  imposed  upon  it,  to  the  simple 
narrative  of  the  divine  life  of  Jesus  among  men 
for  its  reassurances  as  to  the  future  world.  Jesus, 
Son  of  God  and  Son  of  Man,  alone  has  given  us  the 
answer  which  best  satisfies  mankind  to  the  great  ques- 
tion, What  is  man's  true  nature  and  destiny  ?  Buddha 
spoke  on  this  question  to  men  of  his  time  on  the  author- 
ity of  his  manhood  and  his  own  experience ;  Jesus  spoke 
as  one  having  the  authority  of  God  and  of  His  own  di- 
vinity and  experience.  Men  of  all  climes  and  of  all 
creeds  will  yet  turn  to  Him  as  the  one  personality  in  all 
history  who  best  understands  them  and  who  helps 
them  most. 

3.  Christianity  and  Japan. —  In  the  light  which 
history  sheds  upon  Buddhism,  in  view  of  its  lack  of 
power  to  impart  sustained  uplift  and  initiative,  together 
with  its  unsatisfactory  answers  to  the  world's  great 
questions  wherever  it  has  gone,  it  is  impossible  to  be- 
lieve that  the  people  of  Japan  will  be  satisfied  with 
Shintoism,  Confucianism,  or  Buddhism.  What !  a  peo- 
ple who  have  advanced  to  the  position  that  they  rightly 
hold  in  the  estimation  of  the  world  to-day;  a  people 
whose  present  Emperor  proclaimed  on  oath,  at  his  ac- 
cession to  the  throne  that  "  all  purposeless  precedents 
and  useless  customs  were  discarded,  and  that  justice 
and  righteousness  shall  be  the  guide  of  all  action ;  also 
that  knowledge  and  learning  shall  be  sought  after 
throughout  the  whole  world,  in  order  that  the  status  of 
the  Empire  of  Japan  may  rise  ever  higher  and 
higher ;"  a  people  with  such  noble  aims  and  aspira- 
tions, such  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  such  discipline, 
patriotism,  and  loyalty,  as  were  displayed  in  the  past, 


158  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

and  recently  again  before  Port  Arthur,  Liao-yang, 
Mukden,  and  in  the  straits  of  Korea, —  will  such  a 
nation  be  satisfied  with  Shintoism,  Confucianism,  and 
Buddhism?  Most  certainly  they  will  search  for  a  re- 
ligion, which  will  not  only  take  up  and  emphasize  the 
strong  and  best  points  of  their  own  cults,  but  which 
in  addition  to  this,  will  give  better  and  more  satisfac- 
tory answers  to  their  hitherto  unanswered  questions. 
That  religion  is  the  religion  of  God  and  of  His  Son, 
Jesus,  the  Christ. 

4.  Japan  and  Western  Comity. — Moreover,  it 
is  impossible  for  the  thoughtful  man  to  believe 
that  Japan,  which  has  shown  such  keen  appre- 
ciation of  all  that  is  best  in  the  civilizations  of  the 
world,  will  not  sooner  or  later  realize, —  however  some 
men  may  shut  their  eyes  to  the  fact, —  that  religion 
in  the  West  is  still  a  subject  of  far  more  universal  in- 
terest than  its  art,  science,  or  political  institutions, 
which  Japan  has  more  or  less  adopted.  The  Japanese 
will  also  realize  more  and  more,  as  many  do  already, 
that  the  strongest  bond  of  union  in  the  West  is  their 
common  religion  and  that  nothing  divides  a  people 
and  nations  so  completely  as  do  differences  in  religion. 
Japan  will  realize,  also,  that,  as  she  has  entered  into 
the  comity  of  nations  on  the  ground  of  her  new  civili- 
zation, in  order  to  make  that  comity  effective  and 
lasting,  she  must  also  enter  the  comity  of  our  religion. 
Her  God  must  be  our  God;  her  Savior,  our  Savior; 
her  Holy  Land,  our  Holy  Land.  And  then,  and  then 
only,  will  the  comity  be  complete  and  a  great  gain  for 
Christianity  and  humanity  be  attained;  for  Christian- 
ity, a  more  Catholic  because  a  truer  interpretation  of 
Christ  and  His  teaching;  and  for  humanity  at  large, 


BUDDHISM    IN    JAPAN  159 

a  long  stride  made  in  the  direction  of  that  long  and 
devoutly  wished  for  consummation  to  which  prophets 
and  seers  in  all  ages  and  among  all  peoples  have 
pointed,  viz.,  the  organization  of  the  world.  For  the 
perfecting  of  this,  both  Orient  and  Occident,  both 
Christian  and  pagan,  both  civilized  and  uncivilized, 
both  enlightened  and  unenlightened,  will  make  their 
contribution  of  wisdom  gained  in  their  various  schools 
of  discipline.  And  in  return,  in  the  sweet  and  widely 
tolerant  spirit  of  that  royal  command,  "  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  and  of  that  still  more 
royal  Master  of  Men,  Jesus  the  Christ,  equal  rights 
and  equal  blessings  will  be  meted  out  to  all. 


VI.  TAOISM 

BY  HAMPDEN  C.  Du  BOSE,  D.D. 
Missionary  in  Central  China  for  Thirty-three  Years 


161 


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162 


VI 

TAOISM 

1.  Taoism     Generally     Considered. —  i.  Kindred 
Religious    Systems. —  The    Chinese    speak    of    Con- 
fucianism,  Buddhism,  and   Taoism  as   the  three   re- 
ligions of  the  Middle  Kingdom.     Its  more  than  four 
hundred    millions    are   not,    however,    to   be    divided 
among  the  three  systems.     The  Confucianists  belong 
exclusively  to  the  literary  class,  but  they  worship  in 
Buddhist   temples    and    use    the    Taoist    ritual.     The 
priests  of  Buddhism  and  Taoism  are  the  only  real 
Buddhists  and  Taoists,  as  the  people  do  not  consider 
that  they  themselves  belong  to  either  of  these  faiths, 
though  they  regularly  burn  incense  at  their  shrines 
and  contribute  systematically  to  their  support.     The 
religions  stand  more  in  the  relation  of  friendly  denom- 
inations in  Christian  lands  than  of  contending  idola- 
trous systems.     China  is  the  only  country  in  the  world 
where  three  such  religions  could  stand  side  by  side 
without  one  expelling  or  superseding  the  other. 

2.  Its    Native    Land. —  Taoism    exists    in    Cathay 
alone.     Here  it  had  its  birth;  this  people  beheld  its 
progressive    growth,    and    throughout    the    eighteen 
provinces    during    successive    centuries    it    gradually 
spread.     In  this   respect  it  is  unlike   Buddhism,  the 
"  Oriental    Banyan,"    which    starting    in    India    went 
northward  to  Tibet,  southward  to  Ceylon,  eastward 

163 


164  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

to  Burma,  Siam,  and  Annam,  and  from  thence  con- 
quered China  and  Japan ;  so  that  the  history  of  East- 
ern Asia  is  largely  the  history  of  Buddhism.  It  is 
the  principal  religion  of  one-half  of  Asia ;  Confucian- 
ism is  the  state  religion  of  China  and  influences  the 
scholars  of  Japan  as  well,  while  Taoism  belongs  to 
China  only.  The  dual  form  of  its  Mandarin  theology 
forbids  its  being  acceptable  to  any  other  people. 

3.  Religious  Piracy, —  Most  religions  spring  into 
existence  created  by  the  genius  of  some  great  leader, 
but  Taoism  was  the  growth  of  one  thousand  years; 
and  in  its  gradual  evolution,  it  bears  a  striking  analogy 
to  Rome.  Future  researches  must  reveal  the  rise  and 
progress  of  this  mighty  system ;  how  a  band  of  scholars 
became  adepts  in  metallurgy,  and  by  degrees  were 
developed  into  a  priestly  craft.  Ancient  China  was 
obscured  by  countless  wild  beliefs,  which  like  scat- 
tering clouds  overshadowed  the  land;  these  Taoism 
gathered  together,  clasped  them  to  her  bosom,  and 
thus  became  a  congeries  of  superstitions.  The  priests 
pander  in  every  way  to  the  foolish  beliefs  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  creeping  into  their  houses  "  lead  captive  silly 
women." 

Taoism  is  more  purely  native  than  Buddhism  and  is 
an  attempt  to  adapt  the  Indian  religion  to  Chinese 
civilization,  yet  the  sacred  books  show  to  what  an  ex- 
tent Taoism  is  guilty  of  plagiarism.  The  Sutras  in 
form,  in  matter,  in  style,  in  the  incidents,  in  the  nar- 
rative, in  the  invocations,  in  the  prayers  —  leaving  out 
the  Sanscrit  —  are  almost  exact  copies  of  Buddhist 
prayerbooks.  This  goes  to  prove  the  power  of  Bud- 
dhism, and  also  that  Taoism  did  not  exchange  the  phi- 


TAOISM  165 

losopher's  gown  for  the  priest's  robe  till  after  it  coun- 
terfeited the  Indian  coin. 

II.  Taoism's  Founder. — i.  Leading  Facts. — Lao- 
tzu,  the  founder  of  philosophic  Taoism,  was  born  604 
B.  C,  in  the  province  of  Ho-nan  in  Central  China. 
The  details  of  his  life  are  quite  meager.  In  this  re- 
spect the  first  Taoist  stands  in  striking  contrast  with 
Confucius  and  Buddha,  about  whom  so  much  is 
known.  The  historical  facts  are  few  in  number,  and 
of  the  legends  many  are  so  evidently  Buddhistic  that 
it  would  be  useless  to  mention  them.  The  name  Lao- 
tzu  means  literally  "  Old  Boy,"  but  his  official  title  is 
"  The  Great  Supreme  Venerable  Prince."  He  was  ap- 
pointed librarian  by  the  Emperor,  and  diligently  ap- 
plied himself  to  the  study  of  the  ancient  books,  becom- 
ing acquainted  with  all  the  rites  and  histories  of  former 
times.  He  became  famous  as  a  teacher  of  philosophy, 
had  a  large  number  of  students,  retired  from  the 
haunts  of  man,  and  devoted  himself  to  speculation. 

2.  Confucius  Meets  the  Philosopher. —  It  is  on  rec- 
ord that  China's  sage,  when  thirty-five  years  of  age, 
sought  an  interview  with  the  octogenarian.  Lao-tzu, 
said :  "  Those  whom  you  talk  about  are  dead,  and  their 
bones  are  moldered  into  dust;  only  their  words  are 
left.  Moreover,  when  the  superior  man  gets  his  time, 
he  mounts  aloft ;  but,  when  the  time  is  against  him,  he 
moves  as  if  his  feet  were  entangled."  The  young 
teacher  said  to  the  venerable  philosopher  that  he  had 
sought  for  the  Tao  for  twenty  years.  Lao-tzu  replied : 
"  If  the  Tao  could  be  offered  to  men,  there  is  no  one 
who  would  not  willingly  offer  it  to  his  prince;  if  it 
could  be  presented,  to  men,  everybody  would  like  to 
present  it  to  his  parents;  if  it  could  be  announced  to 


l66  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

men,  each  man  would  gladly  announce  it  to  his  broth- 
ers; if  it  could  be  handed  down  to  men,  who  would 
not  wish  to  transmit  it  to  his  children?  Why,  then, 
can  you  not  obtain  it?  This  is  the  reason.  You  are 
incapable  of  giving  it  an  asylum  in  your  heart."  On 
his  return,  Confucius  said  to  his  disciples :  "  I  know 
how  birds  can  fly,  fishes  swim,  and  animals  run.  But 
there  is  the  dragon;  I  cannot  tell  how  he  mounts  on 
the  wind  through  the  clouds  and  rises  to  heaven.  To- 
day I  have  seen  Lao-tzu,  and  I  can  only  compare  him 
to  the  dragon."  This  is  perhaps  an  appropriate  sym- 
bol for  the  Chinese  Diogenes. 

3.  Lao-tzu's   Old   Age. —  The   founder   of   Taoism 
gives  a  lonely  picture  of  advancing  years :  "  The  world 
is  joyful  and  merry  as  on  a  day  of  sacrifice.     I  alone 
prefer  solitude  and  quiet  and  prefer  not  to  pry  into 
futurity.     I  am  like  an  infant  ere  it  has  grown  to  be 
a  child;  listless  I  roam  hither  and  thither,  as  though 
I  had  no  home  to  go  to.     Confused  and  dim,  while 
the  vulgar  are  enlightened,  I  alone  am  in  the  dark, 
tossed  to  and  fro  like  the  sea,  roaming  without  ces- 
sation." 

4.  His  Deification. —  Lao-tzu  is  now  the  third  per- 
son in  the  Taoist  triad,  known  as  the  "  Three  Pure 
Ones,"  who  are  majestically  enshrined  in  the  large 
temples.     These  deities  are  not  regarded  as  exercising 
any  special  power  or  jurisdiction,  but  they  simply  sit 
on  their  lofty  pedestals,  serene  and  quiet,  while  the 
affairs  of  Heaven  and  Earth  are  directed  by  the  Jade 
Emperor.      They    are,    however,    considered    by    an 
idolatrous  people  as  among  the  chief  gods  of  China, 
and  before  their  shrine  incense  is  constantly  burning. 

III.    Taoism's  Foundations. — i.  The  Tao. — It  is 


TAOISM  167 

from  this  that  Taoism  is  named.  Tao  is  variously 
rendered  as  "  Reason,"  "  Wisdom,"  "  The  Way," 
<(  The  Method,"  "  Nature,"  "  The  Principle  of  Nature," 
or  "  The  Cosmic  Process."  Perhaps  the  nearest  con- 
ception is  The  Logos.  The  pagan  philosopher,  whose 
far-seeing  mind  was  striving  to  clothe  a  vague  concep- 
tion in  the  habiliments  of  immortality,  summed  up  his 
teaching  in  this  comprehensive  word. 

2.  The  Tao  Te  Ching. —  This  is  the  great  work  of 
Lao-tzu  and  consists  of  S.ooo1  characters,  or  nearly 
twice  the  length  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  as  given 
by  Matthew.  It  is  a  very  brief  discussion.  The  style 
is  meager  and  laconic ;  much  of  it  is  puzzling  and  ob- 
scure, and  not  a  little  is  puerile  and  misanthropic. 
Written  in  the  days  of  Israel's  Major  Prophets,  with- 
out the  light  of  revelation,  it  has  the  stamp  of  a  master 
mind,  and  much  of  it  will  place  its  author  in  the  ranks 
of  great  and  good  men. 

The  following  extracts  descriptive  of  Tao  are  given : 
'  The  Tao  may  be  discussed,  but  it  is  not  the  ordi- 
nary Tao  [of  ethics] .  Its  name  may  be  named,  but  it  is 
not  an  ordinary  name.  Its  nameless  period  was  at  the 
beginning  of  heaven  and  earth;  when  it  received  a 
name  it  was  the  progenetrix  of  all  things."  "It  is  the 
ancestress  of  the  Universe."  "  Heaven  is  the  Tao,  and 
the  Tao  is  enduring."  "  There  was  something  formed 
from  chaos,  which  came  into  being  before  heaven  and 
earth.  Silent  and  boundless,  it  stands  alone  and  never 
changes.  It  pervades  every  place.  It  may  be  called 
the  mother  of  the  universe.  I  know  not  its  name,  but 
its  designation  is  Tao."  "  The  Great  Tao  is  all-per- 

JThe  number  of  characters  varies  in  the  different  texts  from 
5,350  to  5,720. 


l68  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

vasive;  it  may  be  seen  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the 
left.  All  things  depend  upon  it  and  are  produced." 
"  The  Tao  of  heaven  never  strives,  yet  it  excels  in 
victory."  "  The  Tao  of  heaven  resembles  a  drawn 
bow.  It  brings  down  the  high  and  exalts  the  lowly." 
"  The  Tao  of  heaven  confers  benefits  and  injures  not." 

Other  extracts  show  that  Tao  is  mystical.  "  These 
two  conditions,  the  active  and  the  quiescent,  alike  pro- 
ceed from  Tao ;  it  is  only  in  name  that  they  differ. 
Both  may  be  called  profundities,  and  the  depth  of  pro- 
fundity is  the  gate  of  every  mystery."  "  I  know  not 
whose  offspring  it  is.  Its  form  existed  before  God 
was."  "  Tao,  considered  as  an  entity,  is  obscure  and 
vague.  Vague  and  obscure!  Yet  within  it  there  is 
form.  Obscure  and  vague!  Yet  within  it  there  is 
substance.  Vacuous  and  unfathomable!  Yet  within 
it  there  is  energy." 

3.  Alchemy. —  The  ancient  Taoists  sought  to  trans- 
mute the  baser  metals  into  gold  and  silver  and  to  dis- 
cover the  elixir  of  immortality.  Their  writings  abound 
in  allusions  to  spiritual  medicines,  pearly  food,  and 
fountains  of  nectar.  They  took  several  hundred 
ounces  of  gold  or  silver,  with  red  coloring  matter,  lead 
and  mercury,  put  them  in  a  crucible  with  steady  fire, 
and  on  the  forty-ninth  day  they  amalgamated;  then 
dipping  it  out  with  a  ladle  and  rolling  it  around  in  a 
mortar,  it  becomes  pills.  One  of  these  pills  put  into 
lead  or  mercury  was  said  to  transmute  the  whole  into 
gold  or  silver.  This  is  to  give  wealth. 

There  is  also  the  "internal  eli.rir"  that  the  Taoist 
philosophers  presented  to  those  who  desired  length  of 
days.  Instead  of  the  Western  Paradise  of  the 
Buddhists,  Taoism  offered  immortality  to  its  followers. 


TAOISM  169 

They  could  be  numbered  among  the  host  of  genii  that 
peopled  the  beautiful  mountains  of  the  Celestial  Em- 
pire. 

IV.  Taoism's  Theology,  Pantheon,  and  Wor- 
ship.— i.  Dualism. — The  essential  doctrine  of  the  Cos- 
mic order  in  China  is  dualistic.  The  philosophers  do 
not  speak  of  creation  but  of  generation.  There  is  not 
one  living  eternal  Being  who  made  all  things,  but  two 
immaterial  principles  that  produced  all  things.  The 
common  mode  of  expression  is  that  Heaven  and  Earth 
are  the  great  Father  and  Mother  of  the  universe. 
Those  who  speak  in  mere  philosophical  terms  ascribe 
to  Li,  abstract  right,  and  Ch'i,  the  vital  breath,  the 
power  to  permeate  nature  and  bring  into  being  all  that 
hath  life. 

2.  Yin  and  Yang. —  These  are  the  male  and  female 
principles  of  nature.  The  world  is  Yang  and  Hades  is 
Yin ;  Yang  is  positive  and  Yin  is  negative ;  Yang  is 
hard  and  Yin  is  soft;  Yang  is  light  and  Yin  is  dark- 
ness ;  Yang  is  motion  and  Yin  is  repose. 

This  is  similar  to  the  Manichaan  doctrine.  Manes 
taught  that  there  are  two  principles  from  which  all 
things  proceed :  the  one  is  a  pure  and  subtle  matter, 
called  Light;  and  the  other  a  gross  and  corrupt  sub- 
stance called  Darkness.  These  two  beings  have  pro- 
duced an  immense  multitude  of  creatures  resembling 
themselves  and  distributed  them  through  their  re- 
spective provinces.  The  first  parents  of  the  human 
race  consisted  of  bodies  formed  out  of  the  corrupt 
matter  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  and  of  two  souls, 
one  of  which  is  sensuous  and  lustful,  the  other  rational 
and  immortal.  The  Chinese  and  Persian  thought  are 
cast,  as  is  readily  seen,  into  the  same  moulds. 


I/O  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

3.  The  Apotheosis. —  Nothing  more  fully  proves  the 
materialistic  views  of  the  Chinese  than  their  arrange- 
ment of  the  invisible  world.     The  land  of  spirits  is  an 
exact  counterpart  of  the  Chinese  Empire.     China  has 
eighteen  provinces,  so  has  Hades ;  each  province  has 
eight   or   nine   prefectures   or    departments,    so   each 
province  in  Hades  has  eight  or  nine  departments ;  every 
prefecture  or  department  averages  ten  counties,  and  the 
same  is  true  in  Hades.     In  our  provincial  capitals,  the 
governor,  the  provincial  treasurer,  the  chief  justice,  the 
superintendent   of  silk,   the   prefect   or   departmental 
governor,  and  the  district  magistrates  or  county  gov- 
ernors, each  have  temples,  with  their  apotheose:  in  the 
other  world.     So  the  military  mandarins  have  i.  simi- 
lar gradation  for  the  armies  of  Hades,  whoc  2  captains 
are  gods  and  whose  battalions  are  devils. 

The  framers  of  this  wonderful  scheme  for  the  spirits 
of  the  dead,  having  no  higher  standard,  transferred 
to  the  authorities  of  that  world  the  etiquette,  tastes,  and 
venality  of  their  correlate  officials  in  the  Chinese  gov- 
ernment, thus  making  it  necessary  to  use  similar  means 
to  appease  the  one  which  are  found  necessary  to  move 
the  other.  All  the  gods  of  Cathay  have  their  as- 
sistants, attendants,  doorkeepers,  runners,  horses, 
horsemen,  detectives,  and  executioners,  corresponding 
in  every  particular  to  Chinese  officials  of  the  same 
rank.  This  host  of  state  gods  are  cared  for  by  the 
priests  of  Taoism. 

4.  Appointing      Gods. —  Distinguished      statesmen, 
noted  generals,  faithful  ministers,  royal  princes,  and 
high  mandarins,  a  great  host  of  worthies,  numbering 
ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  are  the  recipients  of 
posthumous  honors.     The  hope  of  appointment  to  high 


TAOISM  171 

office  in  Hades  acts  as  a  stimulus  to  noble  deeds  on 
earth.  The  State  gods  are  continually  increasing;  for 
as  the  graves  of  earth  are  rilling,  so  are  the  palaces  of 
the  gods.  Yet  the  number  decreases,  since  many  gods 
rise,  flourish,  and  fade  away,  "neither  have  they  any 
more  a  reward,  for  the  memory  of  them  is  forgot- 
ten." 

The  power  of  appointment  rests  nominally  with  the 
Ancient  Original,  the  highest  of  the  "  Three  Pure 
Ones,"  but  actually  with  the  Emperor  in  connection 
with  Pope  Chang,  the  "Heavenly  Teacher,"  who  fur- 
nishes the  credentials  and  assigns  the  temple;  for 
whenever  a  change  is  made  in  the  occupant  of  the 
city  ya-men,  a  similar  change  is  made  in  the  tutelary 
divinity  in  the  governmental  temple.  What  a  claim 
for  the  Emperor  of  the  Celestials !  Not  only  is  he  the 
sovereign  of  four  hundred  millions  but  he  is  also  king 
of  the  gods ;  yea,  gods  Chinese  are  constituted  by  him 
and  derive  their  power  from  him.  As  far  as  the  dei- 
fication of  gods  is  concerned,  Taoism  is  the  state  re- 
ligion of  China. 

5.  The  Jade  Emperor. —  A  prominent  fact  in  pagan 
systems  is  that  a  secondary  divinity  in  the  estimation 
of  the  people  gradually  usurps  the  first  place,  as  is  seen 
in  the  goddesses  of  mercy  of  Buddhism  and  Roman- 
ism. "  The  Three  Pure  Ones  "  have  a  higher  rank, 
but  to  the  Jade  Emperor  is  entrusted  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  world.  He  is  the  correlative  of  heaven, 
the  Jupiter  of  the  Middle  Kingdom.  In  the  highest 
story  of  the  great  temples,  he,  the  Lord  of  Heaven, 
has  his  shrine,  while  on  the  lower  floor  Juno,  his  be- 
loved consort,  the  Queen  of  Earth,  sits  enthroned.  To 


172  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

dethrone  the  Chinese  appointed  ruler  of  the  universe 
is  to  demolish  image  worship. 

The  legends  of  the  Jade  Emperor  are  copies  of 
Buddhistic  traditions  and  are  unworthy  of  notice.  As 
a  matter  of  history,  in  the  Sung  Dynasty,  about  a 
thousand  years  ago,  the  Emperor  conferred  upon  a 
magician  of  the  Han  Dynasty  by  the  name  of  Chang 
Yi,  the  title  of  Shang  Ti,  the  Jade  Emperor  j1  and  the 
people,  finding  the  concept  of  one  deity  so  much 
simpler  than  an  abstract  triumvirate,  accepted  him  as 
their  Optimus  Maximus  and  thus  adore  him. 

6.  The  City  Gods. —  The  Jade  Emperor  is  too  far 
away  from  the  millions  on  the  plains  of  Eastern  Asia ; 
hence  the  common  people  frequent  the  city  temples, 
which  are  found  in  the  1,553  walled  cities  in  the  Em- 
pire.    Also  the  one  hundred  great  market  towns  each 
claim  a  local  god,  and  not  a  few  of  the  million  villages 
have  their  rural  deities ;  so  these  gods  are  a  "  multi- 
tude which  no  man  can  number.'" 

The  mandarins  of  the  world  of  night  are  Chinese; 
consequently  the  gentry  are  not  only  aspirants  for  tem- 
poral power,  but  they  also  seek  for  divine  honors ;  and 
the  generous  sovereigns  of  the  eighteen  provinces,  who 
continue  to  preside  over  their  departed  subjects,  gen- 
erally try  to  gratify  their  ambition.  The  city  gov- 
ernor acts  as  judge,  magistrate,  tax-collector,  and  cor- 
oner; hence  the  duties  of  the  city  gods  are  likewise 
multifarious. 

7.  The    Star    Gods. — "Look    now  toward    heaven 
and  tell  the  stars,  if  thou  be  able  to  number  them," 

1 "  Jade  Emperor "  is  not  the  equivalent  of  Shang  Ti  — 
which  means  "  Supreme  Ruler  or  Emperor," —  but  of  two 
Chinese  characters  translated  as  above,  or  as  "  Pearlv  Em- 
peror." 


TAOISM  173 

and  reflect  that  each  star  has  its  god;  the  reader  will 
then  have  a  bird's-eye  view  of  Taoism. 

The  goddess  of  the  pole-star,  or  "  Bushel  Mother," 
is  the  star  of  hope  to  the  followers  of  Lao-tzu.  Many 
of  the  gentry  in  homes  of  anluence  have  private  chapels 
where  she  is  regularly  adored.  She  opens  the  books 
of  life  and  death,  and  all  who  wish  to  prolong  their 
days  worship  at  her  shrine.  The  picture  of  The  Three 
Stars,  Happiness,  Office,  and  Age,  is  worshipped  more 
than  ?ny  other,  and  it  hangs  in  100,000  homes. 

Other  objects  of  worship  are  The  Cycle  Gods. 
There  are  sixty  years  in  a  cycle,  and  over  each  of 
these  presides  a  special  star  deity.  The  devotee  lights 
candles  and  incense  on  his  birthday  before  the  god  that 
reigns  over  the  year  of  his  birth ;  so  if  he  lives  three 
score  years  he  completes  the  cycle  circle  of  prayer. 
Around  the  wall,  in  life  size,  stand  these  sixty  gro- 
tesque images,  and  the  skill  of  the  image-makers  was 
put  to  the  test  to  devise  such  a  large  number  of  dif- 
ferent-looking idols,  white,  black,  yellow,  and  red ;  fe- 
rocious gods  with  vindictive  eyeballs  popping  out 
and  gentle  faces  as  expressive  as  a  lump  of 
putty.  From  their  occipital  hiding-places,  cocks  and 
rabbits  spring  forth,  Minerva-like,  and  snakes  come 
coiling  from  the  brain  of  the  gods.  They  "  changed 
the  glory  of  the  uncorruptible  god  into  an  image  made 
like  to  corruptible  man,  and  to  birds  and  four-footed 
beasts  and  creeping  things." 

Sacrifices  are  offered  to  the  twenty-eight  constella- 
tions by  the  Emperor  at  the  marble  altar  of  Heaven 
and  by  the  mandarins  throughout  the  provinces  of 
China. 

The  star  deities  are  adored  by  parents  in  behalf  of 


174  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

their  children;  they  control  courtship  and  marriage, 
bring  prosperity  or  adversity  in  business,  send  pesti- 
lence and  war,  regulate  rainfall  and  drought,  and  com- 
mand angels  and  demons.  Every  event  in  life  is  de- 
termined by  the  "star  ruler,"  who  from  the  shining 
firmament  manages  the  destinies  of  men  and  nations. 
Astrology  spreads  its  dread  pall  over  night-cursed 
China.  From  the  worship  of  the  gods  of  the  host  of 
heaven  the  Taoist  obtains  a  fine  revenue. 

8.  Evil  Gods. —  In  the  parable  of  the  Unjust  Judge 
it  is  said,  "  There  was  in  a  city  a  judge,  which  feared 
not  God,  neither  regarded  man."     According  to  Tao- 
ism, in  the  heavens  there  are  unjust  gods  not  a  few. 
If  there  are  bad  officials  in  China,  why  should  there 
not  be  bad  divinities  in  the  skies?  is  the  argument 
used.     The  principal    charge    against    this    class    so 
earnestly    worshipped    is    kidnapping,    principally    of 
pretty  young  women,  who  sicken  and  die,  and  whose 
spirits  are  united  in  marriage  to  the  gods  in  Hades, 
Dreadful  are  the  tenets  of  Taoism. 

9.  Special    Services    for    the    Living. — It    is    fre- 
quently termed,  "  The  Great  Peace  Service."     A  num- 
ber of  country  villages  will  send  up  deputies  to  join 
the  priests  in  solemn  worship  during  several  days  in, 
order  to  secure  tranquillity  and  abundant  harvests,  the 
expenses   being  defrayed  by   subscription.     Again   it 
may  be  a  sacrifice  to  the  god  of  thunder  to  protect  the 
waving  fields  of  grain.     Most  frequently  it  is  to  the 
god  of  fire,  the  constable  of  the  ward  presiding  over 
the  worship.     After  a  conflagration,  those  who  have 
escaped  the  devouring  element  join  in  a  "  protecting 
peace  service."     Families  often  have  a  special  private 


TAOISM  175 

service  conducted  by  seven  or  nine  priests  and  pre- 
sided over  by  a  couple  of  abbots. 

10.  The  Immortals. —  It  is  pleasant  to  leave  disgust- 
ing scenes  of  idol  worship  and  turn  to  the  fairy  land 
of  Oriental  religion.  It  is  in  dealing  with  the  Im- 
mortals that  the  Chinese  religious  faith  comes  in  touch 
with  the  beauties  of  Grecian  mythology,  where  every 
spring  and  headland,  grove  and  mossy  dell,  were  by 
poets  made  the  abode  of  nymphs  and  genii.  The 
tales  of  these  semi-celestial,  semi-terrestrial  beings 
found  in  Chinese  books  satisfy  the  national  craving 
for  "  divine  fiction."  It  also  enables  the  writer  to  be 
graphic,  as  he  is  not  hampered  by  natural  laws.  In 
an  instant  he  can  divest  his  characters  of  mortality 
and  let  them,  invisible  and  immaterial,  soar  through 
space,  so  that  in  the  descriptions  there  is  a  decided  air 
of  the  marvelous.  Let  the  characters  of  some  noted 
Occidental  novelist  be  canonized,  and  let  men  adore 
and  pray  to  them,  and  we  have  what  Taoist  romance 
has  given  to  a  people  longing  for  something  more 
intangible  than  flesh  and  blood.  This  state  of  ter- 
restrial immortality  the  writers  of  this  religion  sub- 
stitute for  the  Buddhist  Paradise,  and  to  the  attain- 
ment of  endless  life  on  the  earth  they  invite  their 
devotees. 

With  the  Buddhists  the  star  of  happiness  westward 
moves ;  the  Taoists  call  on  men  to  go  to  the  P'cng  Lai 
Islands  in  the  Eastern  Sea  opposite  the  coast  of  China. 
These  are  inhabited  by  genii,  whose  lustrous  forms 
are  nourished  upon  the  gems  which  lie  scattered  upon 
their  shores,  or  with  the  fountain  of  life  which  flows 
perennially  for  their  enjoyment. 

The  K'un  Lun  Mountains,  happily  situated  in  the 


1/6  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

western  portion  of  the  dependencies  of  China  and 
comparatively  inaccessible  to  travellers,  is  far-famed 
as  the  abode  of  the  Immortals.  The  towering  peaks 
and  lofty  summits  of  these  sacred  mountains  are 
crowned  with  temples,  and  the  beautiful  valleys  are  the 
dwelling  places  of  those  who  once  were  men  but  who 
now  possess  supernatural  powers.  These  demi-gods 
and  minor  goddesses  are  adored  by  the  herded  masses 
on  the  rice-field  plains. 

ii.  The  Mediator. —  Quite  near  the  great  temple  of 
the  Jade  Emperor  is  a  small  temple  where  the  Mediator 
is  enshrined.  The  pilgrim  first  repairs  to  the  Medi- 
ator's shrine,  and,  by  making  an  offering  in  the  cur- 
rency of  China,  obtains  a  permit  to  appear  before  His 
Heavenly  Majesty.  Among  the  thousand  obnoxious 
features  of  Taoism,  the  appointment  of  an  interme- 
diary between  the  inhabitants  of  earth  and  the  highest 
god  in  the  Pantheon  as  a  symbol  of  The  Way,  proves 
that  there  is  a  gleam  of  truth  amidst  stupendous 
errors. 

V.  Taoism's  Demonology. — This  section  brings 
us  to  the  center  of  Taoism  as  a  religious  system. 

i.  The  Taoist  Pope. —  The  first  Taoist  Pope  was 
Chang  Tao-ling,  who  flourished  in  the  first  century  of 
the  Christian  era.  Retiring  for  seclusion  to  the  moun- 
tain fastnesses  of  Western  China,  he  persevered  in  the 
study  of  alchemy  and  in  cultivating  the  virtues  of 
purity  and  mental  abstraction.  His  search  for  the 
elixir  of  life  was  successful,  thanks  to  the  instruc- 
tion conveyed  in  a  mystic  treatise  supernaturally  re- 
ceived from  the  hands  of  Lao-tzu  himself.  The  later 
years  of  the  mystic's  earthly  experience  were  spent  on 
the  Dragon-Tiger  Mountain,  and  it  was  here,  at  the 


TAOISM  177 

age  of  123,  after  compounding  and  swallowing  the 
grand  elixir,  he  ascended  to  the  heavens  to  enjoy  the 
bliss  of  immortality. 

The  name  of  Chang,  The  Heavenly  Teacher,  is  on 
every  lip  in  China.  He  is  on  earth  the  Vicegerent 
of  the  Jade  Emperor  in  Heaven,  and  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  hosts  of  Taoism.  Whatever  doubts 
there  may  be  of  Peter's  apostolic  successors,  the  pres- 
ent Pope,  Chang  LXI,  boasts  of  an  unbroken  line  of 
three-score  and  one  generations.  He,  "  the  ideal 
man,"  as  he  is  termed,  wields  an  immense  spiritual 
power  through  the  land.  The  family  obtained  pos- 
session of  the  Dragon-Tiger  Mountain  in  the  Chiang- 
hsi  province  about  A.D.  1000,  and  the  scenery  around 
Pope  Chang's  rural  palace  is  most  enchanting.  He 
confers  buttons,  indicative  of  rank,  like  an  emperor. 
Priests  come  to  him  from  various  cities  and  temples 
to  receive  promotion,  whom  he  invests  with  titles  and 
presents  with  seals  of  office.  He  controls  the  invisible 
hosts  of  demons  and  is  often  summoned  by  the  em- 
perors and  men  of  vast  wealth  to  rid  their  houses  of 
these  troublesome  intruders.  To  expel  demons,  he 
wields  the  double-edged  sword,  which  is  said  to  have 
come  down,  a  priceless  heirloom,  from  his  ancestors 
of  the  Han  Dynasty. 

On  the  first  of  the  month  Pope  Chang  holds  a  levee 
of  the  gods.  From  the  heights  of  Heaven,  from  the 
depths  of  Hades,  from  across  the  wide  ocean  and  the 
distant  palaces  of  the  stars,  come  an  invisible  host  of 
deified  beings,  gods  and  goddesses,  to  present  their 
compliments  to  the  great  magician. 

During  1904  on  a  Peter's  Pence  visit  to  Shanghai, 
Su-chou,  and  Hang-chou,  Pope  Chang  recieved  every 


1/8  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

mark  of  courtesy  and  esteem  from  the  families  of 
wealth  and  rank.  Taking  a  prominent  seat  in  the 
temple,  charms,  three  inches  square,  to  be  carried  on 
the  person,  which  in  the  belief  of  the  crowd  were 
drawn  by  his  sacred  hand,  sold  rapidly  for  $6.00,  and 
large  ones  went  at  a  corresponding  rate.  It  is  popu- 
larly estimated  that  he  returned  with  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  dollars. 

2.  Demons  and  Dread  of  Them. — China  is  the  land 
of  demons,  and  devil  worship  has  taken  firm  possession 
of  this  ancient  people.  They  believe  that  evil  spirits 
flit  hither  and  thither;  consequently,  before  the  outer 
doors  there  are  protection  walls  to  shield  the  living 
from  the  intrusion  of  the  dead.  The  house  walls  are 
built  high,  and  the  windows  open  in  the  courts  only, 
in  order  to  prevent  the  ingress  of  spirits.  There  are 
no  straight  passages  as  a  rule ;  for,  as  spirits  travel  in 
right  lines,  in  order  to  intercept  their  progress  the 
passages  are  zigzag  or  curved.  There  is  a  succession 
of  screen-doors  which  meet  you  at  every  turn;  the 
object  being  to  make  the  residence  demon-proof.  The 
Chinese  have  been  taught  to  consider  themselves  as 
constantly  surrounded  by  spiritual  beings,  invisible 
indeed  and  inaccessible  to  touch  or  handling,  but  none 
the  less  real,  none  the  less  influential.  They  look  upon 
all  spirits,  demons,  devils  as  the  souls  of  dead  men; 
and  when  they  view  the  dense  population  of  these  vast 
plains  and  consider  that  each  Chinese  has  three  souls, 
it  is  no  wonder  that  they  think,  "  Seeing  we  are  com- 
passed about  with  so  great  a  cloud "  of  demons. 
This  is  the  authorized  version  of  Taoism. 

The  system  seems  to  dog  their  steps  and  let  loose 
billions  of  malevolent,  malignant,  and  ruthless  spirits 


TAOISM  179 

to  trouble  them,  so  that  to  the  fanciful  mind  of  a 
Chinese,  a  numberless  host  of  invisible  beings  are 
about  him,  concealed  at  every  corner,  or  wandering 
through  the  air;  and  their  sounds,  weird  and  eerie, 
are  heard  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  as  the  wind 
howls  about  the  roofs.  The  dread  of  spirits  is  the 
nightmare  of  the  Chinaman's  life.  Here  is  a  minis- 
tration of  demons,  not  of  angels. 

3.  Exorcists. —  Just  at  this  point  come  in  the  priests 
and  abbots  of  Taoism  with  their  claim  to  exorcise 
demons;  and   they   wield  a  powerful  influence  both 
among  the  gentry  and  the  common  people,  who  have 
implicit  confidence  in  their  unseen  power. 

4.  Witches. —  In  some  sections  of  the  land  the  in- 
fluence of  witches  is  so  demoralizing  that  the  man- 
darins have  had  to  issue  proclamations  against  them. 
They  are  to  be  seen  calling  up  spirits  from  Hades, 
which  descend  on  the  smoke  of  an  incense  stick  and 
take  possession  of  the  witch's  body.     Her  words  are 
supposed  to  be  those  of  the  departed ;  and  there  she 
sits,  tossing  her  head  backward  from  side  to  side  and 
rolling  her  eyes  wildly  as  she  rants  a  jargon,  partly 
inarticulate.     Almost  every  village  in  China  has  one 
or  more  spirit  mediums,  each  having  his  or  her  fa- 
miliar   spirit.     The    people    sit    "  in    the    region    and 
shadow  of  death." 

5.  Superstitions. —  Taoism  is  the  ancestor  of  super- 
stition.    It  is  a  system  fraught  with  danger  to  the 
nation  for  the  reason  that  it  generates,  nourishes,  and 
develops  superstition.     It  makes  the  Chinese  mind  as 
tinder  for  the  spark,  just  as  an  August  sun  prepares 
a  prairie  for  the  wild-fire.     In   1877  there  occurred 
the  paper-men  mania,  when  parties  mysteriously  lost 


ISO  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

their  queue  as  they  walked  along  the  street.  The 
peasants  forsook  their  houses  and  slept  in  the  fields, 
or  under  the  trees.  Gongs  were  imported,  as  the 
local  stock  was  exhausted,  and  processions  with  lan- 
terns and  torches  passed  from  village  to  village.  This 
excitement  extended  from  the  Yang-tzu  to  the  Hang- 
chou  Bay  and  continued  for  a  month  amidst  the  wild- 
est scenes. 

6.  Services   for    the    Dead. —  In    these,    Buddhists 
and  Taoists  form  a  lucrative  partnership.     In  the  great 
West  one  funeral  is  considered  sufficient  for  a  single 
person,  but  in  China  it  is  the  "  seven-sevens,"  or  a 
funeral  each  seventh  day  to  the  forty-ninth  day.     Be- 
sides these  are  several  extra  services,  and  in  wealthy 
families  the  priests  chant  every  day  for  seven  weeks; 
or,  in  all,  forty-nine  funerals  are  held,  so  to  speak. 

The  four  post-mortem  ceremonies  are  lighting  the 
lamps,  bathing  the  soul,  crossing  the  bridge,  and  scat- 
tering the  cash,  in  which  the  priests  of  Taoism  take 
a  prominent  part.  At  the  close  of  the  services  the 
Taoists  exhibit  their  skill  in  tossing  up  bronze  cym- 
bals and  in  keeping  a  number  in  the  air  at  one  time, 
which  is  a  pleasant  diversion  in  the  midst  of  sad 
scenes. 

7.  The  Devil's  Procession. —  Mara,  the  god  of  sin, 
lust,  and  death,  has  a  green  complexion,  long  tusks, 
and  a  frightful  face.     On  the  thirtieth  of  the  seventh 
moon,  with  two  smaller  devils,  one  white  and  the  other 
black,  who  as  the  ya-men  runners  of  Hades  receive  the 
souls  of  the  dying,  Mara  leads  the  great  procession 
with    horses,    retainers,    musicians,    and    gongs.     He 
comes,  not  as  the  "  prince  of  this  world  "  or  as  "  an 
angel  of  light,"  but  clad  in  the  habiliments  of  the 


TAOISM  l8l 

prison  of  the  lost.  He  is  worshipped  and  honored  by 
a  great  people;  and  as  he  triumphantly  marches 
through  the  streets  the  rejoicing  multitudes  that  go 
before  and  that  follow  after  praise  the  son  of  dark- 
ness, and  in  this  climax  of  devil-worship,  when  Mara 
is  assigned  the  highest  place  in  the  pantheon  of  Tar- 
tarus, an  adoring  nation  bows  before  him  as  their 
high  ruler,  their  accursed  guardian,  and  their  faith- 
less guide. 

On  this  same  night,  it  is  supposed  that  all  the  spirits 
in  prison,  all  the  devils  in  hell  are  turned  loose;  count- 
less myriads  coming  as  swarms  of  locusts  from  the 
unseen  abyss,  black,  hungry,  and  naked,  whose  motto 
is,  "  Your  money  or  your  life."  In  front  of  every 
door  piles  of  paper-tinsel  are  burned,  and  it  is  esti- 
mated that  at  one  temple  in  Hang-chou  during  two 
weeks  £300  daily  are  expended  in  paper  sycee. 

8.  A  Degrading  System. —  The  above  is  merely  an 
outline  of  Taoism.  It  can  almost  be  said  that  there  is 
nothing  good  in  it.  Leaving  aside  its  idolatry,  the 
adoration  of  the  creature  more  than  the  great  Creator, 
it  is  a  mixture  of  spirit-worship,  superstition,  charms, 
witchcraft,  and  demonology.  It  is  degrading  to  the 
intellect  and  debasing  to  the  soul.  A  very  large  pro- 
portion of  its  priesthood  are  miserable  opium-smokers. 
There  is  little  hope  for  China,  politically,  morally,  or 
religiously,  until  Taoism  is  swept  from  the  face  of  the 
land.  It  is  evil  and  only  evil.  The  duty  of  the  mis- 
sionary is  simply  to  say,  "  Sirs,  why  do  ye  these 
things?  We  .  .  .  preach  unto  you  that  ye 
should  turn  from  those  vanities  unto  the  living  God, 
which  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  sea%  and  all 
things  that  are  therein." 


VII.  CONFUCIANISM 

BY  DEVELLO  Z.  SHEFFIELD,  D.D. 
Missionary  in  North  China  for  Thirty-six  Year* 


183 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

*BALLER,  F.  W.    The  Sacred  Edict  (1892). 

*BARROWS.  J.  H.,  editor.  The  World's  Parliament  of  Reli« 
gions  (1893).  Pp.  374-439,  596-604. 

China  Mission  Handbook,  The  (1896).     Pt.  I,  pp.  i-u. 

^Chinese  Recorder.  Files  of  this  periodical  contain  much  val- 
uable information  on  all  phases  of  Confucianism. 

CLARKE,  J.  F.     Ten  Great  Religions  (1899).     Vol.  I,  ch.  II. 

DOOLITTLE,  J.  English-Chinese  Vocabulary  and  Handbook. 
Vol.  II,  pp.  490-499.  Selections  with  translations. 

*  DOUGLAS,  R.  K.  Confucianism  and  Taouism  (1889).  Pp. 
9-170. 

DuBosE,  H.  C.  The  Dragon,  Image,  and  Demon  (1886).  Es- 
pecially chs.  VII-IX. 

DVORAK,  R.  Chinas  Religionen  —  Confucius  und  seine  Lehre 
(1895).  Especially  Ss.  79-118. 

EDKINS,   J.    Religion    in    China    (1878).    Especially   chs.   II, 

Encyclopaedias,  especially  "  The  Encyclopedia  of  Missions," 
under  "Confucianism,"  "  China." 

*FABER,  E.  A  Systematical  Digest  of  the  Doctrines  of  Con- 
fucius (1875). 

*FABER,  E.  The  Mind  of  Mencius  (1897).  Digest  of  Con- 
fucian teaching. 

GIBSON,  J.  C.  Mission  Problems  and  Mission  Methods  in 
South  China  (1901).  Ch.  III. 

GILES,  H.  A.  A  History  of  Chinese  Literature  (1901).  Bk.  I, 
chs.  II,  III. 

GRAY,  J.  H.  China :  A  History  of  the  Laws,  Manners,  and 
Customs  of  the  People  (1878).  Vol.  I,  pp.  75-94. 

Great  Religions  of  the  World  (1901).  Prof.  Giles's  "Confu- 
cianism in  the  Nineteenth  Century." 

GRIFFIS,  W.  E.    The  Religions  of  Japan  (1895).     Chs.  IV,  V. 

HENRY,  B.  C.    The  Cross  and  the  Dragon  (1885).     Ch.  IV. 

*LECGE,  J.  The  Chinese  Classics  (1893).  Vol.  I,  Proleg- 
mena,  especially  pp.  56-111. 

*LEGGE,  J.    The  Religions  of  China  (1881).    Lects.  I,  II,  IV. 

MATHESON,  G.  The  Distinctive  Messages  of  the  Old  Re- 
ligions (1894).  Ch.  III. 

NEVIUS,  J.  L.     China  and  the  Chinese   (1882).     Ch.  III. 

REVILLE,  A.     La  Religion  Chinoise  (1889). 

*Sacred  Books  of  the  East.     Vols.  Ill,  XVI,  XXVII,  XXVIII. 

*SAUSSAYE,  P.  D.  CHANTEPIE  DE  LA.  Manual  of  the  Science 
of  Religion  (1891).  Chs.  37-40,  42. 

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Tchou  Hi,  sa  Doctrine,  son  Influence." 

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under  "  Confucius." 
*  Indicates  works  of  special  value  or  authority 

184 


VII 

CONFUCIANISM 

1.  Introductory. — i.  Definition. — Confucianism    is 
that  system  of  religious  and  ethical  teaching  which  is 
the  essential  souice  of  Chinese  civilization.     The  near- 
est equivalent  to  this  term  in  Chinese  is  Ju  Chiao, — > 
Ju,   scholars,   Chiao,   teachings,  —  The   Teachings   of 
Scholars ;  that  is,  from  extreme  antiquity  there  has 
been  a  body  of  literature  accepted  by  the  great  majori- 
ty of  China's  scholars  as  being  the  source  of  wisdom 
and  virtue. 

2.  "  Middle  "  and  "  Early  Antiquity." —  Confucius 
lived  and  taught  five  centuries  before  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  era.     This  general  period  is  known  in 
Chinese    history    as    "  middle    antiquity,"    the    period 
stretching  back  from  ten  to  twenty  and  more  centuries 
before  being  called  "  early  antiquity."     Confucius  pro- 
fessed his  work  to  be  that  of  a  transmitter  and  not  of  a 
producer.     He    found    an    already    ancient    literature 
which  he  studied  and  revised,  and  in  the  form  in  which 
he  left  this  literature  it  has  been  transmitted  without 
radical  alteration  to  later  ages. 

3.  General    Character    of    Confucian     Writings. — 
These  writings  preserve  a  broken  and  imperfect  pic- 
ture of  the  civilization  of  China  in  remote  antiquity. 
They  largely  wipe  out  the  darker  lines  which,  if  they 
had  been  preserved,  would  have  given  a  more  correct 

185 


1 86  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

picture  of  a  rude  but  vigorous  race  in  its  early  stages 
of  political  and  social  evolution.  What  remains  is  an 
unreliable  idealization  of  the  virtues  of  a  few  of  the 
sage-rulers  of  China,  to  which  the  people  responded 
as  iron  to  the  magnet,  producing  a  golden  age  of  po- 
litical order  and  family  fidelity,  which  is  held  up  by 
Confucius  and  his  disciples  for  imitation  by  all  subse- 
quent ages.  In  those  times  princes  ruled  with  pure 
benevolence,  and  the  people  responded  to  such  rule  as 
grass  growing  upon  housetops  responds  to  the  blowing 
of  the  winds. 

4.  "Book  of  History"  and  Its  Picture  of  Early 
Chinese  Life. —  This  golden  age,  closing  over  twenty 
centuries  before  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era, 
lies  well  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  which  Western 
scholars  would  draw  to  separate  between  reliable  and 
unreliable  Chinese  history.  The  "  Book  of  History," 
which  contains  a  fragmentary  account  of  this  period, 
has  undoubtedly  imbedded  in  its  record  very  much  of 
fact,  but  fact  that  is  overlaid  with  fancy,  until  it  is 
not  an  easy  task  to  reconstruct  in  thought  the  condi- 
tion of  society  in  the  Middle  Kingdom  4,000  years 
ago.  Princes  and  scholars  who  were  distinguished  for 
political  and  social  virtues  were  represented  as  pos- 
sessing these  virtues  in  the  highest  perfection.  Thus 
they  became  ideals  for  the  imitation  of  coming  genera- 
tions ;  and  because  these  ideals  were  the  outgrowth  of 
an  ancient  order  of  society,  the  lines  of  life  and  con- 
duct, of  national  government,  of  social  intercourse,  of 
family  requirements,  became  fixed  and  unalterable. 
The  result  has  been  that  while  in  other  countries 
men's  faces  have  been  largely  turned  toward  the  fu- 
ture with  hope  and  endeavor,  in  China  they  have  been 


CONFUCIANISM  i/ 

turned  toward  the  past  in  admiration  of  a  national 
glory  that  has  departed. 

II.     Confucius   and   Later   Chinese    History. — i. 

His  Own  Evil  Tim-es. —  Confucius  —  born  B.  C.  551, 
died  B.  C.  478  —  appeared  in  China  as  a  great  politi- 
cal and  ethical  teacher  five  centuries  before  the  Chris- 
tian era.  The  learning  of  his  times  consisted  of  the 
study  of  the  literature  that  had  come  down  from  earlier 
ages,  and  in  this  learning  Confucius  first  became  a  de- 
voted pupil  and  later  a  distinguished  master.  The 
times  were  radically  out  of  joint.  The  throne  of  the 
Chou  Dynasty  for  a  long  period  had  been  occupied  by 
a  succession  of  weaklings.  Subordinate  feudal 
princes  were  warring  one  with  another  for  precedence 
and  power.  There  was  confusion  in  government  and 
distress  in  society.  The  principles  of  justice  and 
benevolence  were  being  disregarded,  and  selfishness, 
greed,  love  of  pleasure  were  filling  men's  minds  from 
the  highest  of  the  rulers  to  the  lowest  of  the  people. 

2.  His  Theory  as  to  the  Remedy. —  Confucius  looked 
upon  the  existing  order  of  social  life  as  a  sad  de- 
generacy from  the  ideals  which  he  found  in  the 
records  of  past  ages,  and  he  set  himself  with  courage 
and  devotion  to  contribute  his  part  to  the  work  of  po- 
litical and  social  reconstruction.  In  his  study  of  the 
problems  of  government  and  general  order  Confucius 
failed  to  apprehend  the  vital  truth  that  the  institu- 
tions of  a  later  age  cannot  be  rigidly  patterned  after 
the  ideals  of  a  former  time,  that  human  growth  means 
change  from  earlier  conditions,  that  new  conditions 
demand  new  adjustments.  From  this  study  of  ancient 
literature  his  memory  was  filled  and  his  imagination 
was  kindled  with  the  pictures  of  a  past  order  of 


1 88  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

society,  when  princes  and  ministers,  parents  and  chil- 
dren fulfilled  the  duties  of  their  stations,  and  rulers  only 
needed  to  sit  correctly  on  their  throne  and  all  the  af- 
fairs of  government  would  move  in  order,  as  the  North 
Star  rests  in  its  place  and  the  universe  of  stars  re- 
volves about  it  in  their  orbits. 

3.  His  Conception  of  Reform. —  The  mind  of  Con- 
fucius being  thus  saturated  with  the  things  of  the  past, 
his  conception  of  reform  was  not  that  of  progress 
toward   new   things   in   the   evolving  and   constantly 
modifying  conditions  of  society,  but  of  return  to  old 
things,  insisting  that  the  institutions  of  government 
and  worship,  the  manner  of  regulating  human  inter- 
course in  the  family  and  society  that  prevailed  in  the 
primitive  period  of  Chinese  civilization  should  with 
little  modification  be  perpetuated   for  generations  to 
come.     A  disciple  once  inquired  of  the  Master  wheth- 
er the  affairs  of  ten  generations  to  come  could  be  fore- 
told.    The  Master  replied  that  the  affairs  of  even  a 
hundred  generations  to  come  could  be  foretold,  since 
the  institutions  of  one  generation  are  patterned  after 
those  of  the  preceding.     This  language  of  the  Sage 
has  proved  true  to  a  surprising  degree  in  the  history 
of  China. 

4.  Causes  and  Results   of   China's    Uniformity. — 
From  age  to  age  there  has  been  a  monotonous  uniform- 
ity in  the  forms  of  government  and  in  the  regulations 
of  family  and  social  life  that,  with  the  possible  excep- 
tion  of  ancient  Egypt,   has   had   no   parallel   in   the 
world's    history.     The   reasons    for   the   phenomenon 
are  to  be  partly  found  in  the  racial  character  of  the 
Chinese  people,  but  chiefly  in  the  lofty  place  accorded 
to  Confucius  and  Confucian  teachings  in  the  thought 


CONFUCIANISM  189 

of  the  myriads  of  the  "  black-haired  race."  These 
teachings  have  not  only  formed  the  center  but  circum- 
ference of  Chinese  thought.  The  highest  good  of 
each  succeeding  generation  is  best  attained  by  taking 
heed  to  the  watch-word,  "  back  to  antiquity."  The 
result  has  been  that  since  the  times  of  Confucius  —  if 
the  date  should  not  be  fixed  long  before  his  birth  — 
there  has  been  no  progressive  thought  in  China;  or,  if 
here  and  there  a  man  has  dared  to  think  outside  of  the 
circle  already  prescribed,  his  thoughts  have  been  con- 
demned and  rejected  by  a  jealous  orthodoxy.  Thus 
from  age  to  age  Chinese  civilization  may  be  likened  to 
the  pictures  in  a  revolving  kaleidoscope.  There  is 
change  in  relations,  but  always  after  a  fixed  law,  and 
the  same  forms  and  colors  continue  to  reappear  with- 
out variation.  Confucianism  has  produced  a  petrified 
civilization;  and,  judging  from  the  results  of  twenty- 
five  centuries,  we  may  safely  conclude  that  there  is  no 
latent  power  hidden  in  this  system  that  can  break  up 
the  existing  order  and  carry  China  forward  to  higher 
things. 

5.  Confucius'  Influence  Upon  the  Chinese. —  Foreign 
students  of  Chinese  literature  find  it  difficult  to  dis- 
cover, either  in  the  character,  or  in  the  teachings  of 
Confucius,  the  source  of  his  supreme  influence  upon 
the  political  and  social  life  of  China.  He  gathered 
about  him  a  company  of  the  choice  youth  of  his  time, 
not  a  few  being  scions  of  powerful  families.  These 
students  seemed  to  have  absorbed  the  teachings  of  the 
Master  with  unquestioning  devotion ;  and  while  he 
failed  to  accomplish  in  his  lifetime  those  reforms  in 
government  and  society  to  which  he  devoted  his  ener- 
gies, he  founded  a  school  of  thought  that  has  domi- 


RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

nated  the  minds  of  Chinese  scholars  from  age  to  age. 
They  in  turn  have  exalted  the  name  of  their  great 
Teacher,  until  he  is  honored  above  the  long  line  of 
Emperors  and  has  accorded  to  him  a  seat  only  a  little 
below  that  of  Supreme  Heaven,  since  he  has  been  a 
companion  of  Heaven  in  its  transformations.  Upon 
his  tablet  is  written,  "  The  Divine  Seat  of  the  Great 
Harmonizer,  the  Most  Holy  Ancient  Teacher  Con- 
fucius." This  tablet  is  set  up  in  every  official  resi- 
dence throughout  China,  and  worship  is  offered  before 
it  in  Spring  and  Autumn.  The  Emperor  must  partici- 
pate in  this  worship,  or  else  send  a  prince  of  high  rank 
as  his  representative. 

6.  Secret  of  His  Influence. —  The  true  account  of 
the  unique  place  and  influence  of  Confucius  in  the 
thought  of  China  is  doubtless  to  be  found  in  his  en- 
thusiastic interpretation  of  the  institutions  of  antiquity 
to  the  scholars  of  his  time.  To  them  it  appeared  that 
a  new  light  of  the  first  magnitude  had  arisen  in  their 
midst,  a  light  revealing  the  things  of  the  past  as  a 
guide  and  pattern  for  the  future.  Reverence  for  an- 
tiquity found  in  Confucius  a  new  and  powerful  im- 
pulse, and  along  with  this  reverence  was  a  fresh  ideal- 
ization of  the  Sage  Teacher,  perfect  in  wisdom  and 
virtue.  Confucius  had  himself  said,  "  The  Sage 
knows  things  from  birth,"  that  is,  spontaneously,  with- 
out the  effort  of  study  or  research.  This  language 
was  taken  up  by  scholars  and  applied  to  the  Master 
in  its  extremest  interpretation.  In  spite  of  the  Sage's 
own  denial,  Confucianists  teach  that  he  had  a  complete 
vision  of  truth  in  the  varied  human  relations,  and  that 
what  he  did  not  choose  to  teach  was  of  self-limitation, 
and  not  by  reason  of  lacking  knowledge.  Thus  Con- 


CONFUCIANISM  IQI 

fucius  in  the  thought  of  the  scholars  of  China  stands 
as  the  Oracle  of  Heaven,  the  fountain-source  of  the 
highest  wisdom.  Not  that  he  is  thought  to  be  in- 
spired of  Heaven,  but  that  the  Law  of  Heaven,  oper- 
ating in  the  lives  of  all  men,  finds  its  perfect  expres- 
sion in  the  life  of  Confucius.  His  teachings  compass 
all  human  relations  and  supply  the  regulative  princi- 
ples in  government,  in  the  family,  and  in  society. 

7.  China's  Arrested  Development  Due  to  Con- 
fucius.—  That  the  ideals  of  a  race  of  men  in  the  early 
stages  of  their  movement  toward  a  higher  civilization 
should  have  had  their  re-embodiment  in  a  Sage  of 
later  times  and  in  him  should  have  found  the  fixed 
standard  of  a  social  organism,  furnishes  an  adequate 
explanation  of  the  phenomena  of  arrested  development 
which  is  everywhere  seen  in  the  institutions  of  China. 
The  government  is  an  overgrown  and  badly  regulated 
family,  and  the  family  is  bound  under  requirements 
that  were  formulated  for  a  primitive  order  of  society. 
The  rights  of  man  as  man  were  never  apprehended  in 
Confucian  thought  and  so  were  never  embodied  in  lan- 
guage. The  teacher  in  Western  political  and  ethical 
science  is  compelled  to  create  or  adapt  a  word  to  this 
new  meaning.  The  conception  of  individual  liberty, 
closely  related  to  that  of  individual  rights,  has  very 
imperfect  recognition  in  Confucian  thought.  To  com- 
pass the  ends  of  Confucian  teaching,  little  is  required 
beyond  the  attainment  of  rightly  regulated  authority 
above,  properly  manifested  obedience  below,  with  due 
regard  for  the  various  orders  in  age  and  rank.  The 
results  of  such  teachings  have  been  to  cause  a  cold 
formalism  to  dominate  all  social  relations.  The  seeds 
of  the  finer  sentiments  that  lie  hidden  in  human  nature 


192  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION   FIELDS 

have  failed,  except  in  a  limited  measure,  to  spring  up 
and  bear  fruit  in  the  sterile  soil  and  chilling  climate 
which  Confucianism  has  produced. 

Confucianism  can,  perhaps,  be  best  studied  under 
the  heads,  first,  as  a  system  of  religion,  or  worship, 
and  second  as  a  system  of  political  and  social  ethics. 

III.  Confucianism  as  a  System  of  Worship. — In 
Confucianism  as  a  system  of  worship,  we  distinguish 
three  separate  and  yet  closely  related  elements,  viz., 
nature  worship,  Sage  and  hero  worship,  and  ancestral 
worship. 

i.  Nature  Worship. —  (a)  The  Law  of  Heaven. — 
Far  back  in  the  twilight  of  Chinese  civilization  the 
leaders  of  Chinese  thought  had  discovered  the  unity 
of  nature,  had  perceived  the  order  that  exists  in  the 
revolution  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  in  the  succession  of 
seasons,  in  the  processes  of  growth  and  decay  in 
animal  life,  and  had  concluded  that  man,  the  highest 
being  in  nature  lives  under  the  law  of  order,  which 
is  regulative  of  all  his  relationships.  This  law  of 
order  was  named  the  Law  of  Heaven,  and  was 
thought  to  be  a  spontaneous  force  always  moving  on 
right  lines  and  to  right  ends.  The  law  that  pro- 
duces transformations  in  the  lower  orders  of  nature 
was  not  distinguished  from  the  law  that  operates  in 
the  realm  of  spirit,  that  determines  the  principles  of 
right,  truth,  duty.  But  though  failing  to  distinguish 
between  the  lower  and  the  higher  law,  the  Chinese 
have  never  questioned  the  witness  of  their  conscious- 
ness as  to  personal  responsibility  for  their  thoughts 
and  choices.  They  have  always  found  in  their  own 
nature,  in  their  power  of  self-will,  the  source  of  good 
and  evil,  and  have  never  excused  their  wrong  con- 


CONFUCIANISM  193 

duct  because  they  were  under  the  power  of  an  in- 
exorable law.  Thus  in  practical  thought  the  Law  of 
Heaven  has  become  a  law  of  necessity  in  the  lower 
order  of  nature,  and  a  law  of  ought,  of  right  action 
from  choice  in  human  relations.  , 

(b)  Pantheistic  Dualism. —  Although  the  unity  of 
nature  was  thus  early  discovered,  the  ancient  Chinese 
in  attempting  to  interpret  this  unity  fell  into  the  error 
of  conceiving  of  the  universe  as  self-evolved,  the  Law 
of  Heaven  operating  in  primordial  matter  in  harmony 
with  its  nature  and  producing  the  existing  order  of 
things.     The  system  thus  developed  was  a  dualistic 
pantheism,  with  Heaven  as  the  Supreme  Father  and 
Earth    the    Supreme    Mother.     In    "  The    Book    of 
Changes  "  we  read,  "  All  things  have  their  source  in 
Heaven,   and   all   things   have   their  birth    from   the 
Earth."     If  a  Confucian  scholar  is  asked  as  to  the 
origin  of  this  conception,  he  is  only  able  to  say  that 
the  ancient  worthies  discovered  this  fundamental  fact 
in  the  order  of  nature,  and  in  harmony  with  this  fact 
they   instituted   the   family   with   father   and   mother 
set  in  their  places  as  representatives  of  Heaven  and 
Earth  before  their  children. 

(c)  The   "Son    of   Heaven"   and   Nature    Wor- 
ship.—  From    ancient    times    the    supreme    ruler    of 
China  has  been  addressed  as  the  "  Son  of  Heaven." 
He  rules  by  the  will   of  Heaven  and  exercises   his 
authority  under  the  direction  of  Heaven.     This  rela- 
tionship to  Heaven  and  Earth  is  further  extended  to 
Sun   and    Moon.     The    Sun    is    elder-brother   to   the 
Emperor  and  the  Moon  is  elder-sister.     Right  govern- 
ment consists  in  directing  affairs  of  state  in  harmony 
with  the  Law  of  Heaven.     In  ceremonies  of  nature- 


194  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

worship  the  Emperor  appears  as  high  priest  and  is 
assisted  by  princes  and  ministers  according  to  their 
rank.  In  the  present  dynasty  the  Altar  of  Heaven 
is  placed  in  the  southern  city, —  Peking  consists  of 
two  separate  cities, —  the  Altar  of  Earth  outside  the 
walls  of  the  northern  city,  the  Altar  of  the  Sun  in 
the  eastern  suburb,  and  the  Altar  of  the  Moon  in  the 
western  suburb.  At  the  winter  solstice  the  Emperor 
worships  with  elaborate  ceremonies  on  the  High  Altar 
of  Heaven,  and  at  the  summer  solstice  on  the  High 
Altar  of  Earth.  He  rarely  goes  in  person  to  wor- 
ship at  the  altars  of  Sun  and  Moon,  but  he  is  repre- 
sented by  princes  and  ministers.  Worship  chiefly 
consists  in  prescribed  prostrations  before  appropriate 
tablets,  with  offerings  of  meat,  wine,  and  silk.  Upon 
the  tablet  of  Heaven  —  a  small  slab  of  wood  —  is 
written,  "  The  Divine  Seat  of  Imperial  Heaven,  the 
Ruler  Above."  Upon  the  tablet  of  Earth  is  written, 
"The  Divine  Seat  of  the  Gods  of  Imperial  Earth." 

(d)  Personality  in  this  Nature  Worship. — -It  is 
important  to  note  the  conception  of  personality  that 
inheres  in  this  system  of  nature  worship.  Man  as  a 
rational  being  with  powers  of  reflection  and  choice,  in 
offering  worship  to  the  various  powers  of  nature,  per- 
sonifies those  powers  as  a  necessity  of  thought.  He 
asks  for  help,  protection,  forgiveness,  guidance,  and 
his  asking  involves  the  element  of  faith  that  there  is 
an  eye  to  see,  a  heart  to  sympathize,  a  hand  to  direct. 
In  Chinese  dualism  Heaven  is  the  supreme  object  of 
worship,  and  relatively  little  is  said  of  Earth.  In 
many  passages  in  the  Chinese  Classics  relating  to  the 
activities  of  Heaven  the  element  of  personality  is  im- 
plied. The  wicked  kings  of  antiquity  were  over- 


CONFUCIANISM  195 

thrown  by  the  will  of  Heaven.  "  Heaven  has  no  in- 
timates ;  he  gives  help  to  the  virtuous."  "  Heaven 
sees  through  the  seeing  of  the  people,  and  hears 
through  the  hearing  of  the  people,"  that  is,  the  will 
of  Heaven  finds  expression  in  the  choices  of  the  peo- 
ple. In  "  The  Great  Learning"  we  are  told,  "  Man's 
nature  is  the  decree  of  Heaven,"  that  is,  man's  nature 
is  the  gift  of  Heaven  by  definite  decree  or  purpose. 
While  it  is  important  to  note  the  conception  of  per- 
sonality in  this  system  of  worship,  it  is  equally  im- 
portant not  to  exaggerate  that  conception.  At  best 
it  is  a  vague  and  shadowy  thought,  and  but  a  remote 
suggestion  of  the  Christian  thought  of  the  personality 
of  God,  the  living  spirit,  the  Heavenly  Father.  The 
personification  of  the  powers  of  nature  was  more  def- 
inite and  clear  in  the  ancient  classical  writings  than 
in  the  writings  of  later  ages.  The  more  sages  and 
scholars  reflected  on  the  orderly  ongoing  of  nature, 
the  more  they  were  filled  with  the  idea  of  its  spon- 
taneity. Nature  by  its  necessary  and  unchanging 
laws  seemed  to  be  self-evolved,  self-sustained,  and 
self-determined  in  its  ends.  Nature  comes  to  con- 
sciousness in  man,  and  the  Sage  is  its  oracle  through 
whom  the  unconscious  mind  of  nature  finds  articu- 
lation. 

(e)  Fellowship  Its  Central  Idea. —  TKe  central 
thought  in  this  system  of  worship  is  not  that  of  pro- 
pitiation,—  so  common  in  other  religions, —  but  rather 
of  fellowship.  Man  is  a  child  of  nature,  and  his 
highest  interests  are  involved  in  the  transformations 
of  nature.  He  therefore  seeks  by  appropriate  forms 
of  worship  to  draw  nigh  to  the  great  mother-heart, 
to  give  expression  to  the  spirit  of  dependence,  rever- 


IQ6  RELIGIONS  OP   MISSION   FIELDS 

ence,  thanksgiving,  contrition,  and  thus  by  rightly  ad- 
justing himself  to  his  environment  to  keep  the  springs 
of  beneficient  nature  pouring  forth  their  waters  rich 
and  full  to  gladden  the  lives  of  men. 

(f)  Nature  Worship  and  Government. —  It  should 
be  noticed  that  this  worship  is  an  organic  part  of 
government,  and  it  is  thus  an  imperial  obligation  of 
the  first  order  of  importance.     By  appropriate  cere- 
monies of  worship  the  Ruler  of  "  All  under  Heaven  " 
puts  himself  in  harmony  with  the  powers  of  nature, 
and  thus  secures  the  cooperation  of  these  powers  in 
the  administration  of  government.     So  vital   is  this 
nature  worship  conceived  to  be  in  its  relations  to  gov- 
ernment, that  one  of  the  first  acts  in  the  overthrow 
of  a  dynasty  and  the  setting  up  of  a  new  govern- 
ment is  the  formal  worship  of  Heaven  by  the  new 
aspirant  to  the  imperial  dignity.     This  act  is  the  final 
expression  of  rejection  of  the  old  order  of  things, 
and  the  starting  point  in  the  establishing  of  a  fresh 
order. 

(g)  Moral  Element  in  Nature   Worship. —  It  re- 
mains to  note  the  moral  element  that  inheres  in  this 
system  of  worship.     Physical  order  in  the  processes 
of  nature  becomes  moral  order  in  the  relations  of  men. 
Necessary  results  through  the  operation  of  law  under 
physical    conditions    become    results    of    choice,    of 
volition,  through  the  operation  of  the  same  law  in 
human    relations;    and   thus   order   among   men    ap- 
pears as  goodness  or  virtue,  and  disorder  as  evil  or 
vice.     Nature  moves  spontaneously,  without  fault  or 
deflection,  toward  right  ends.     Man  in  his  Heaven- 
given    nature    is     equally    spontaneous     in    moving 
toward  right  ends;  but  his  nature  has  been  confused 


CONFUCIANISM  197 

by  unbalanced  passions,  and  deflected  by  evil  ex- 
amples, and  hence  the  necessity  of  self-regulation 
through  proper  forms  of  worship  to  bring  human  re- 
lations into  harmony  with  the  right  order  of  nature. 
Morality  has  always  proved  itself  to  be  built  on  inse- 
cure foundations  when  divorced  from  religion.  In 
Confucianism  worship  has  rightly  been  placed  as  the 
foundation  for  morality.  The  defect  in  the  system 
is  not  one  of  relation,  but  of  the  object  of  worship. 
Creation  has  been  substituted  for  the  Creator,  the  self- 
activities  of  nature  for  the  free  activities  of  the 
Divine  Spirit.  And  thus  men  under  this  system  have 
lost  the  sense  of  the  urgency  of  duty,  that  conviction 
of  the  unfailing  reward  of  righteousness  and  punish- 
ment of  evil  that  in  the  Christian  system  of  ethics 
gives  strength  and  urgency  to  moral  motives. 

2.  Sage  and  Hero  Worship. —  (a)  Worship  of 
Sages. —  According  to  the  conception  of  Confucian- 
ism, the  Sage  has  received  from  Heaven  a  perfect 
nature,  so  that  the  expression  of  that  nature  in  words 
and  life  is  always  in  harmony  with  the  Heaven-deter- 
mined order.  He  is  therefore  the  interpreter  of  the 
mind  of  nature,  and  his  teachings  are  the  embodiment 
of  the  Law  of  Heaven  and  are  to  be  received  as  ulti- 
mate truth.  There  is  an  extravagant  passage  from 
the  teachings  of  Confucius,  recorded  in  "  The  Doc- 
trine of  the  Mean,"  which  is  believed  by  Chinese 
scholars  to  apply  in  its  fullest  sense  to  the  great  Mas- 
ter himself :  "  He  who  is  able  to  give  full  develop- 
ment to  his  nature  will  be  able  to  give  full  develop- 
ment to  the  nature  of  other  men;  he  who  is  able  to 
give  full  development  to  the  nature  of  other  men  will 
be  able  to  give  full  development  to  the  nature  of 


198  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

things  [whatever  this  may  mean]  ;  he  who  is  able  to 
give  full  development  to  the  nature  of  things  will  be 
able  to  assist  Heaven  and  Earth  in  their  work  of  trans- 
formation and  nourishment  and  is  thus  a  co-worker 
with  Heaven  and  Earth."  It  is  interesting  to  note 
in  this  passage  and  in  other  kindred  teachings  the 
place  and  office  of  the  Sage  in  relation  to  Heaven  and 
Earth.  The  Sage  is  set  in  his  place  to  establish  and 
preserve  moral  order  in  the  relations  of  man ;  and,  with 
Heaven  and  Earth  and  the  other  powers  of  nature,  he 
is  a  proper  object  of  worship  in  formal  expressions  of 
reverence,  dependence,  thanksgiving. 

The  ancient  Sages  are  reverenced  as  the  Sons  of 
Heaven,  as  the  uncrowned  princes  of  China,  and 
among  them  Confucius  is  accorded  a  supreme  place  of 
honor.  Sage  worship,  along  with  nature  and  ances- 
tral worship,  is  an  essential  function  of  government 
with  a  common  idea  pervading  the  three  forms  of 
worship,  that  of  establishing  and  preserving  harmony 
between  the  people  and  the  powers  that  rule  over  their 
destinies.  In  the  Imperial  ritual,  the  ruler  must  in 
person  or  by  representatives  offer  worship  in  the  tem- 
ple of  the  Sages  in  spring  and  autumn  with  prostra- 
tions and  presentations  of  wines,  fruits,  meats,  silks, 
etc.  This  spring  and  autumn  worship  is  further  ob- 
served by  all  ranks  of  civil  and  military  officials ;  and 
in  addition  at  the  beginning  and  middle  of  each  month 
civil  officials  must  visit  the  temple  of  Confucius  and 
perform  the  prescribed  prostrations,  with  the  burning 
of  incense  before  the  tablet  of  the  Sage. 

Confucius  is  further  worshipped  in  schools  through- 
out China  as  the  patron  of  learning.  His  tablet  is 
placed  in  each  school-room  inscribed  with  the  char- 


CONFUCIANISM  1O/J 

acters  as  above  given,  "  The  Divine  Seat  of  the  Great 
Harmonizer,  the  Most  Holy  Ancient  Teacher  Con- 
fucius." Students  on  entering  the  school-room  and 
on  departing  morning  and  evening  are  required  to 
make  their  bows  to  this  tablet.  At  the  opening  and 
close  of  school  and  on  the  day  observed  as  the  birth- 
day of  the  Sage,  the  teacher  or  teachers  lead  the  stu- 
dents in  performing  "  The  Great  Ceremony  "  of  three 
prostrations  and  nine  knockings  of  the  head  at  each 
prostration.  These  ceremonies  are  deeply  intrenched, 
both  in  the  customs  and  in  the  laws  of  China,  and  are 
observed  with  increasing  rigidness  as  they  come  un- 
der official  control.  Christian  students  find  in  these 
requirements  a  serious  hindrance  to  participation  in 
the  benefits  of  learning  as  provided  by  the  government. 

(b)  Hero  Worship. —  Hero  worship  is  also  a  direct 
outgrowth  of  the  Confucian  cult.  Its  object  is  to  keep 
vividly  before  the  minds  of  the  people  the  supreme 
virtues  of  certain  great  historical  characters,  of  men 
distinguished  for  patriotism,  filial  piety,  purity  of  life, 
and  fidelity  to  duty  under  conditions  of  special  trial. 
Of  these  heroes  relatively  few  have  received  national 
honors,  while  most  of  them  are  remembered  in  the 
special  regions  where  their  virtuous  deeds  were  per- 
formed. Temples  are  erected  to  their  names  and 
forms  of  worship  are  observed  from  generation  to 
generation. 

Chieh  Chih-ts'ui,  who  lived  a  little  before  the  time 
of  Confucius,  refused  to  accept  office  under  a  corrupt 
prince  and  hid  himself  in  the  mountains.  The  prince 
determined  to  force  his  servant  to  continue  in  office  and 
ordered  the  mountain  to  be  set  on  fire  to  drive  him 
from  his  hiding-place,  with  the  result  that  he  chose 


20O  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

rather  to  perish  in  the  flames  than  to  serve  an  evil 
master.  This  protest  to  the  death  against  corrupt  gov- 
ernment has  resulted  in  the  national  tribute  of  honor 
to  the  name  of  the  hero.  An  annual  memorial  feast- 
day  is  observed,  in  which  fires  are  not  lighted  and  cold 
food  is  eaten  by  the  people.  This  day  is  more  elabor- 
ately observed  in  Shan-hsi,  the  native  province  of  the 
hero,  than  in  other  parts  of  China. 

A  little  later  than  Confucius  Ch'u  Yuan  gave  wise 
counsel  to  Prince  Hui  of  the  kingdom  of  Ch'u,  result- 
ing in  good  government  and  benefits  to  the  people. 
Later  the  prince  listened  to  the  schemes  of  corrupt 
counselors,  removed  Ch'u  .Yuan  from  office,  and 
brought  confusion  into  the  affairs  of  government.  In 
grief  and  disappointment  he  threw  himself  into  a  river 
and  perished.  For  this  act  of  devotion  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  people  temples  have  been  erected  to  his 
name  throughout  China,  and  in  many  places  special 
food  is  eaten  on  his  memorial  day,  a  portion  being, 
thrown  into  neighboring  water  to  feed  his  spirit. 

Yiieh  Fei  is  a  distinguished  modern  hero  of  the 
Sung  Dynasty  —  in  the  twelfth  century.  He  was  a 
faithful  and  successful  general  in  the  wars  with  the 
northern  Tatars.  In  the  midst  of  his  victories  the 
prime  minister,  Ch'in  Ts'ui,  jealous  of  the  reputation 
of  Yiieh  Fei,  persuaded  the  Emperor  to  make  a  dis- 
advantageous peace,  throwing  Yiieh  Fei  into  prison  on 
false  charges,  and  causing  his  death  by  poison. 
Many  temples  to  the  memory  of  Yiieh  Fei  are  now 
scattered  throughout  China.  In  some  of  these  the 
wicked  prime  minister  and  his  wife  appear  before  the 
image  of  Yiieh  Fei  in  a  bowed  posture,  and  the  wor- 


CONFUCIANISM  2OI 

shippers  accompany  the  act  of  worship  with  a  few 
strokes  on  the  back  of  the  minister. 

The  celebrated  "  Chinese  "  Gordon  was  preceded  by 
the  American  Ward  in  leading  a  body  of  foreign  mer- 
cenaries to  assist  in  putting  down  the  T'ai  P'ing  Re- 
bellion. Ward  died  of  wounds  in  the  service  of  the 
Chinese  government,  and  is  honored  with  a  memorial 
tablet  before  which  appropriate  ceremonies  of  worship 
are  performed.  When  in  China  a  high  official  of  dis- 
tinguished merit  dies,  it  is  the  custom  to  memorialize 
the  Throne,  setting  forth  the  merits  of  the  deceased 
and  asking  permission  to  erect  a  public  memorial  hall. 
Imperial  permission  is  often  accompanied  with  a  pres- 
ent of  a  tablet  or  writing  to  be  preserved  in  the  hall  in 
honor  of  the  departed.  Such  halls  should  be  distin- 
guished from  family  ancestral  halls,  as  it  becomes  the 
duty  of  the  local  official  to  observe  at  prescribed 
times  the  proper  ceremonies  of  worship.  This  wor- 
ship, though  local,  has  the  characteristics  of  hero  wor- 
ship and  is  inspired  by  the  public  sense  of  admiration 
for  the  virtues  that  have  been  illustrated  in  the  life  of 
the  deceased.  Li  Hung-chang  has  several  public  halls 
erected  to  his  memory  in  the  various  places  where  he 
has  held  office.  The  list  of  such  honored  names  in 
China  is  a  long  one,  but  usually  after  a  few  centuries 
worship  is  neglected,  and  the  memorial  hall  crumbles 
into  ruins. 

3.  Ancestral  Worship. —  (a)  The  history  of  ances- 
tral worship  in  China,  if  it  could  be  completely  written, 
would  be  found  to  constitute  an  integral  and  important 
part  of  the  history  of  Chinese  civilization.  Its  origin 
and  early  evolution  are  hidden  from  view  in  the  buried 
records  of  prehistoric  times.  More  than  two  thousand 


2O2  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

years  before  the  Christian  era,  in  the  early  dawn  of 
Chinese  history,  this  cult  was  already  well  developed, 
and  was  organic  with  the  life  of  the  family  and  the 
state.  If  a  Confucian  scholar  were  inquired  of  con- 
cerning its  central  thought,  he  would  reply  that  it  was 
"  to  requite  the  source  and  pursue  the  distant,"  which 
means,  when  interpreted  into  Western  speech,  that  the 
object  of  ancestral  worship  is  to  properly  acknowledge 
and  honor  the  human  source  of  our  being,  and  when 
that  source  is  separated  from  us  by  the  multiplying 
years  to  keep  it  in  memory  by  appropriate  ceremonies 
of  worship.  Considerable  variations  have  taken  place 
in  the  ceremonies  of  ancestral  worship  in  the  long  sue 
cession  of  centuries,  but  the  vitalizing  thought  has  con- 
tinued the  same  throughout,  to  preserve  in  the  minds 
of  the  living  the  memories  of  the  personalties  and 
virtues  of  their  ancestors.  Much  is  said  in  Chinese 
writings  as  to  the  duties  of  sons  to  carry  out  the 
life-purposes  of  their  parents.  For  a  son  to  be 
thus  guided  by  the  thought  and  wish  of  departed 
parents  is  of  the  highest  order  of  filial  piety. 

(b)  Place  and  Times  of  Worship. —  From  antiquity, 
among  families  of  wealth  and  rank,  a  special  room  or 
hall  has  been  devoted  to  the  ceremonies  of  ancestral 
worship.  This  worship  is  performed  before  memorial 
tablets  arranged  in  the  order  of  the  generations  of  the 
deceased.  In  this  worship  wives  have  their  place  by 
the  side  of  their  husbands  and  receive  equal  honors. 
Among  the  common  people,  too  poor  to  set  aside  a 
special  room  for  their  worship,  the  family  tablets  are 
preserved  in  a  shrine  placed  in  a  room  occupied  by  the 
living,  where  worship  is  performed  in  accordance  with 
traditional  requirements.  The  time  of  the  New  Year 


CONFUCIANISM  2O3 

festival  and  the  day  of  the  death  of  the  ancestor  are  the 
fixed  occasions  for  the  observance  of  worship. 

(c)  A  Scholar's  View  of  this  Worship. —  A  Confu- 
cian scholar  would  speak  on  the  subject  of  ancestral 
worship  something  after  the  following1  manner :     "  As 
the  water  has  its  source  in  the  fountain  and  the  tree  in 
the  root,  so  we  have  our  source  in  our  ancestors.     In 
our  childhood  we  were  cherished  in  the  bosoms  of  our 
parents,  were  fed  and  clothed  and  instructed  by  them, 
and  were  directed  in  the  path  of  right  living.     Their 
virtues  were  daily  manifested  before  our  eyes,  and  the 
noble  characters  of  our  ancestors  have  shed  their  luster 
down  the  generations.     In  our  desire  to  give  expression 
to  our  loving  veneration  we  not  only  set  delicate  food 
and  wine  before  them,  but  we  delight  to  make  prostra- 
tions in  their  honored  presence  and  thus  give  expres- 
sion to  our  humble  gratitude  for  the  gift  and  the  bless- 
ings of  life.     In  these  ceremonies  we  act  out  the  deep 
feelings  of  our  hearts  in  our  desire  to  serve  the  dead 
as  we  serve  the  living.     The  ancient  Sages  observed 
these  rites,  and  posterity  has  imitated  them.     By  this 
sacred  custom  families  have  been  preserved  in  order, 
and   government  has  been   continued   in   its   stability. 
This    worship    has    its    source    in    the    ordinance    of 
Heaven,  and  is  the  spontaneous  expression  of  the  right 
affections  of  the  human  heart.     To  observe  this  wor- 
ship is  the  supreme  act  of  filial  duty,  and  to  fail  in  its 
observance  is  to  sin  against  the  Law  of  Heaven  and  to 
disregard  the  most  sacred  of  the  moral  affections." 

(d)  Modern  Regulations  and  their  Significance. — 
It  was  noted  above  that  nature  worship  in  the  Con- 
fucian system  is  an  Imperial  obligation  in  which  the 
people  do  not  participate.     On  the  other  hand,  ances- 


2O4  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

tral  worship  is  a  universal  obligation,  rarely  neglected 
except  by  reason  of  poverty  or  ignorance.  Among  the 
people  ancestral  worship  occupies  a  first  place  in  giv- 
ing expression  to  the  feelings  and  convictions  of  the 
religious  nature.  The  worship  of  multitudes  of  spirit- 
ual powers,  though  pervasive  in  China,  is  secondary  in 
importance  to  worship  before  the  tablets  of  the  family 
ancestors,  and  is  optional  with  the  individual  to  do  or 
to  neglect  to  do.  Ancestral  worship  is  observed  by 
the  people  independently  of  nature  worship,  but  the 
two  are  interblended  in  the  Imperial  ritual.  In  the 
present  capital  of  China,  to  the  front  and  left  of  the 
extensive  grounds  occupied  by  the  Imperial  Palace 
are  the  grounds  upon  which  is  built  the  great  Ances- 
tral Hall.  On  similar  grounds  to  the  front  and  right 
of  the  Palace  is  erected  the  Altar  to  the  Gods  of  the 
Earth  and  Grain.  The  order  of  arrangement  is  not 
of  accident.  The  first  place  is  accorded  to  the  an- 
cestors, from  whom  the  gift  of  life  is  received  and 
the  second  place  to  the  Earth  and  Grain  Deities,  who 
nourish  and  sustain  life.  In  the  great  ceremony  of 
worship  before  the  tablet  of  Heaven,  it  has  already 
been  observed  that  the  tablets  to  the  Imperial  Ances- 
tors have  their  place  to  the  right  and  left.  In  this 
there  is  not  only  symbolized  the  dependence  of  the 
living  upon  the  Supreme  Power  in  nature,  but  upon 
the  human  sources  from  whom  life  is  derived.  Prop- 
er ceremonies  of  worship  before  the  symbols  of  the 
ancestral  presence  are  an  essential  condition  in  preserv- 
ing harmonious  relations  with  Heaven,  the  ultimate 
source  of  life  and  its  attendant  blessings. 

(e)  Ancient  Ceremonies  Explained. —  At  the  open- 
ing of  the  semi-historical  period  in  the  records  of 


CONFUCIANISM  2C»5 

China  the  system  of  ancestral  worship  had  taken  on 
the  essential  form  which  it  has  preserved  down  to  the 
present  time.  There  was  already  developed  the  an- 
cestral hall  where  worship  was  performed,  the  me- 
morial tumulus  over  the  remains  of  the  departed,  and 
the  prescribed  ceremonies  of  worship  to  be  performed 
before  the  tumulus  at  definite  periods.  It  seems  to 
have  been  the  custom  in  ancient  times  —  a  custom  not 
generally  followed  in  later  centuries  —  for  a  family  to 
prepare  a  feast  which  was  first  set  before  the  presence 
of  the  departed  and  then  eaten  by  the  living.  There 
was  another  occasional  practice  which  did  not  develop 
into  a  general  custom,  that  of  selecting  a  child  from 
the  family  of  the  deceased  and  placing  it  in  the  seat  of 
honor  as  the  ancestral  representative,  to  whom  worship 
was  offered.  In  ancient  times  and  occasionally  since 
the  Christian  era,  at  the  death  of  a  prince  his  wives, 
family  servants,  and  subordinate  officials  would  de- 
stroy themselves  as  a  proof  of  attachment  to  their 
lord,  and  their  bodies  would  be  buried  near  to  that 
of  their  master.  This  custom  is  stigmatized  by  Chi- 
nese historians  as  derived  from  the  outside  barbarians 
and  has  been  discontinued  in  modern  times.  Along 
side  of  this  custom,  and  probably  more  ancient  in  its 
origin,  was  that  of  burying  with  the  deceased  an 
image  of  wood  or  other  material  to  symbolize  the  con- 
tinued presence  with  the  deceased  of  his  wonted  at- 
tendants. The  custom  now  pervasive  in  China  at  the 
time  of  a  funeral  to  publicly  burn  life-like  figures  of 
men,  women,  horses,  and  representations  of  sedan- 
chairs,  carts,  houses,  is  probably  an  evolution  of  the 
idea  expressed  in  the  use  of  the  ancient  image  buried 
with  the  deceased. 


2O6  RELIGIONS-  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

(f)  Ancestral  Tablets  and  their  Meaning. — The 
custom  of  symbolizing  the  presence  of  ancestors  by 
memorial  tablets  set  up  in  the  ancestral  hall  does  not 
seem  to  have  existed  in  ancient  times,  but  for  many 
centuries  it  has  been  pervasive  in  China.  At  the  death 
of  the  head  of  a  household,  —  male  or  female,  —  a  tab- 
let is  set  up  in  connection  with  the  burial  service,  which 
is  carefully  preserved  from  this  time  forth  until  de- 
stroyed by  fire,  or  lost  in  some  convulsion.  The  tablet 
consists  of  two  narrow  pieces  of  wood,  usually  less 
than  a  foot  in  length,  the  one  placed  in  front  of  the 
other  and  set  into  a  common  base.  They  are  together 
placed  in  a  shrine  of  appropriate  size.  The  name  and 
age  of  the  deceased  is  written  on  the  face  of  one  sec- 
tion of  the  tablet,  with  the  added  characters  Shen  Chu ; 
upon  the  other  section  is  recorded  the  date  of  the  birth 
and  death,  with  the  added  characters  Shen  Wei. 
That  is,  one  slab  represents  the  deceased,  who  is  called 
the  Divine  Lord,  while  the  other  represents  the  resting 
place  of  the  deceased  which  is  called  the  Divine  Seat. 
There  is  an  interesting  feature  in  the  ceremony  of  set- 
ting up  the  tablet  which  is  deserving  of  notice.  The 
character  which  signifies  Lord  is  the  same  as  that  for 
Prince,  with  the  addition  of  a  dot  above.  At  the 
death  of  a  parent  or  grandparent  a  tablet  is  prepared 
as  above  with  the  writing  in  the  usual  black  ink.  The 
character  for  Lord  is  not  completed,  lacking  the  dot 
above  that  distinguishes  it  from  Prince.  A  scholar 
is  invited  who  appears  in  his  full  ceremonial  costume, 
if  an  officer,  in  a  costume  that  indicates  his  rank.  He 
seats  himself  at  a  table  facing  the  casket  of  the  de- 
ceased and  with  a  vermilion  pen  completes  the  charac- 
ter for  Lord  by  adding  the  dot.  The  tablet  is  then 


CONFUCIANISM  2O/ 

placed  in  front  of  the  casket,  the  officiating  scholar 
first  offering  a  cup  of  wine  with  three  bows,  after 
which  the  family  of  the  deceased  in  order  of  seniority 
prostrate  themselves  before  the  tablet.  The  tablet  is 
carried  before  the  casket  in  the  funeral  procession  to 
the  place  of  interment,  and  after  completion  of  cere-- 
monies it  is  returned  to  the  ancestral  hall  to  take  its 
place  among  other  tablets  in  all  future  ceremonies  of 
worship.  Doubtless  in  popular  thought  the  tablet 
becomes  a  family  god  in  the  sense  that  the  spiritual 
presence  of  the  ancestor  is  conceived  to  be  in  the 
tablet ;  but  from  ancient  times  Confucian  scholars  have 
been  careful  to  emphasize  the  thought  that  the  object 
of  ancestral  worship  is  to  preserve  the  reverential 
memory  of  the  departed,  and  not  to  bring  the  living 
into  their  real  presence.  In  this  connection  a  passage 
from  Confucius  is  often  quoted :  "  Worship  [the  an- 
cestors], as  if  present;  worship  the  gods,  as  if  pres- 
ent ;  "  that  is,  worship  with  sincerity  as  if  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  beings  worshipped. 

(g)  Western  View  of  Ancestral  Worship. —  West- 
ern writers  on  Chinese  matters  occasionally  give  ex- 
pression to  the  thought  that  ancestral  worship  is  not 
worship  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term,  that  it  is  only 
extending  to  the  departed  by  appropriate  ceremonies 
the  reverence  which  is  offered  to  the  living.  The  fact 
that  this  worship  is  strictly  a  memorial  service,  not 
carrying  with  it  the  necessary  belief  in  the  presence 
of  the  spirits  of  the  ancestors  to  accept  the  worship, 
may  be  pointed  to  in  confirmation  of  the  above  posi- 
tion. But  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  nature  wor- 
ship and  ancestral  worship  are  closely  interrelated  and 
form  an  essential  unity.  Ancestral  worship  does  not 


2C)8  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

stand  by  itself  and  upon  a  lower  plane  than  the  other 
forms  of  worship;  rather,  it  is  the  form  that  is  the 
most  pervasive  and  urgent.  Though  in  strict  Confu- 
cianism the  spirits  of  the  ancestors  are  not  believed  to 
be  present  in  the  tablet,  such  worship  is  in  harmony 
with  the  Law  of  Heaven,  and  to  neglect  it  is  to  throw 
all  human  relations  into  confusion.  This  worship  has 
been  excluded  from  the  Roman  Catholic  church  in 
China,  though  from  early  times  that  Church  has  ad- 
mitted the  worship  of  saints  and  angels  into  its  ritual. 
In  the  Protestant  Church  the  deeper  spiritual  intui- 
tions of  the  native  converts  uniformly  declare  against 
this  practice. 

IV.  Confucianism  as  a  System  of  Political  and 
Social  Ethics. —  i.  Its  Central  Idea. —  This  subject 
which  deserves  a  chapter  must  be  treated  in  a  few 
paragraphs.  The  central  ethical  thought  in  the  Con- 
fucian system  lies  partly  revealed  in  what  has  been 
written  above  concerning  Confucianism  as  a  system  of 
worship.  The  two  great  dual  powers,  Heaven  and 
Earth,  have  produced  the  ordered  cosmos.  The 
efficient  force  in  this  evolution  has  been  the  self-active 
Law  of  Heaven.  Human  nature  is  the  incarnation  of 
this  law,  and  so  is  essentially  good.  In  the  nature  of 
the  Sage  the  affections  and  passions  find  their  expres- 
sion in  perfect  harmony  with  this  law;  but  in  the 
masses  of  human  beings  the  affections  and  passions 
are  not  held  in  proper  subjection  to  law,  and  hence 
the  confusion  and  evil  of  society.  The  end  of  the 
operation  of  the  Law  of  Heaven  in  human  relations  is 
to  establish  order,  and  order  is  established  when  every 
class  of  men  perform  the  Heaven-decreed  duties  of 
their  rank  and  station. 


CONFUCIANISM  2O>9 

2.  The  ''Five  Relations." — Chinese  writers  talk  of 
the  "  Three  Bonds,"  and  the  "  Five  Constants."     The 
"Bonds  "  are  the  subordination  of  the  minister  to  the 
prince,  the  son  to  the  father,  and  the  wife  to  the  hus- 
band.    The  "  Constants  "  are  Benevolence,  Righteous- 
ness,   propriety,    wisdom,    fidelity.      These    "Bonds" 
and  "  Constants  "  find  their  expression  in  the  "  Five 
Relations,"  that  of  prince  to  minister,  parent  to  child, 
husband  to  wife,  older  to  younger  brother,  and  friend 
to  friend.     In  the  above  order  of  relations,  with  the 
exception  of  the  last,  the  superior  is  set  over  against 
the  inferior,  with  the  result  that  the  family  and  social 
life  in  China  is  largely  dominated  with  a  type  of  re- 
pressive formalism.     Dignity,  seniority,  authority  are 
correlated   with   subordination,   dependence,   servility; 
and  the  spirit  of  freedom,   self-initiative,  and  spon- 
taneity find  little  scope  for  exercise.     Society  does  not 
find  its  end  in  expanding  and  perfecting  the  individual. 
Rather  is  the  individual  cut  and  pared  that  he  may 
be  fitted   into  his  prescribed   place  in  a  stereotyped 
society,  that  for  the  sake  of  mechanical  order  has  sac- 
rificed the  sparkle  and  zest  of  a  natural  and  abounding 
life. 

3.  Virtue. —  The  goal  of  the  Law  of  Heaven,  or  ab- 
stract right,  in  its  activity  is  virtue,  which  may  be  de- 
fined   as    active   goodness.     Confucius    says :     "  The 
virtuous  man  wishing  to  be  established  [in  right  prin- 
ciples], seeks  to  establish  others;  wishing  to  be  en- 
larged [in  knowledge  of  right  principles],  he  seeks  to 
enlarge  others."     The  excellence  of  this  ethical  con- 
ception consists  in  its  active  interest  in  the  well-being 
of   others.      The    defect   of   the  term   is   not   in   the 
capacity  of  the  word,  but  in  the  content  placed  by  Con- 


2IO  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

fucianism  in  it.  Confucian  benevolence  and  Chris- 
tian benevolence  are  conceptions  that  move  on  differ- 
ent planes  of  thought.  The  one  has  its  end  in  order, 
in  the  right  regulation  of  society,  in  the  proper  dis- 
charge of  duty  in  the  varied  relations  of  life.  The 
other  has  its  end  in  heart  purification,  in  mutual  fel- 
lowship under  the  inspiration  of  the  law  of  love,  in 
lives  that  face  Godward  in  their  highest  hopes  and 
richest  aspirations. 

4.  Strength  and  Weakness  of  Confucian  Ethics. — 
The  ethical  teachings  of  Confucianism  will  bear  hon- 
orable comparison  with  the  best  ethical  teachings  of 
other  ethnic  civilizations.  Chinese  civilization  has 
perpetuated  itself  for  more  than  four  thousand  years 
—  in  spite  of  social  upheavals  and  dynastic  changes  — 
less  because  of  unity  of  race  than  because  of  the  char- 
acter of  its  ethical  teachings,  crystalized  into  the  laws 
of  government  and  the  institutions  of  society.  But 
while  this  is  true,  Confucian  ethical  teachings,  rein- 
forced by  the  system  of  worship,  have  always  lacked 
in  moral  dynamics  to  make  them  more  than  partially 
realized  in  social  life.  Government  and  society  have 
been  held  together,  not  so  much  by  the  general  con- 
victions of  right,  as  by  the  general  instincts  of  self- 
preservation.  Men  have  used  their  knowledge  of : 
principles  of  right  both  as  weapons  of  attack  and 
shields  of  defense.  Right  conduct  has  been  less  from 
glad  conformity  to  inner  law,  than  from  compulsion 
of  outer  circumstances.  Thus  practical  ethics  has 
been  widely  divorced  from  theoretical  ethics ;  and 
while  the  ideal  of  order  has  always  been  pointed  to  as 
the  final  end  of  the  family,  society,  and  the  state,  the 
wheels  of  the  social  machinery  have  creaked  and 


CONFUCIANISM  211 

groaned  in  their  revolution  because  of  the  friction  of  a 
pervasive  selfishness. 

5.  Confucianism  Wanting. —  Confucianism  in  what 
it  has  accomplished  for  a  fourth  of  the  human  race 
testifies  to  the  perennial  ethical  and  spiritual  aspira- 
tions of  the  heart  of  man ;  but  it  witnesses  also  to  the 
need  of  a  light  clearer  and  steadier  than  that  kindled 
by  the  .hands  of  the  Sages  of  China,  and  that  quality  of 
strength  which  is  not  generated  by  unaided  human 
impulses,  which  gives  to  men  the  knowledge,  the  will, 
and  the  power  to  live  consistently  toward  the  highest 
life-ideals,  and  so  to  attain  to  that  order  which  is  only 
realized  under  the  operation  of  the  Law  of  Love  — 
that  law  of  spiritual  gravitation,  which  holds  the  moral 
universe  in  place,  and  guides  it  in  its  course 


VIII.  JUDAISM 

BY  REV.  Louis  MEYER 


213 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

ADAMS,  H.  C.     History  of  the  Jews  (1887). 
*BARROWS,   J.   H.,   editor.    The    World's    Parliament   of   Re- 
ligions (1893).     Pp.  291-295,  527-535,  705-7I5- 
BEACH,  H.   P.     Geography  and  Atlas  of  Protestant  Missions 

(1901-03).     Vol.  I,  ch.  XX. 

BEAULIEU,  A.  L.     Israel  Among  the  Nations  (1895). 
BETTANY,  G.  T.    The  World's  Religions    (1891).    Book  VI. 

Popular. 

DA  COSTA,  I.    Israel  and  the  Gentiles  (1850). 
DE  LE  Roi,  J.  F.  A.    Die  evangelische  Christenheit  und  die 

Juden. 

EDERSHEIM,  A.     History  of  the  Jewish  Nation   (1896). 
Encyclopaedias,    especially    "  The    Encyclopedia    of    Missions," 

under  "  Jews,"  "  Judaism,"  "  Israel,"  "  Talmud." 
FRIEDLANDER,  M.    The  Jewish  Religion  (1891). 
GIDNEY,  W.  T.     Missions  to  Jews  (1899). 
GIDNEY,  W.  T.    The  Jews  and  Their  Evangelization  (1899). 
*GRAETZ,    H.    History    of    the    Jews     (1891-95).    Especially 

vol.  V. 

GRANT,  G.  M.    The  Religions  of  the  World  (1895).     Ch.  IX. 
Great  Religions  of  the   World    (1901).     Dr.   Caster's  "Jews 

and  Judaism  in  the  Nineteenth  Century." 
HASTINGS   AND   SELBIE.    A    Dictionary   of   the   Bible.    Extra 

volume    (1904).     Article   "Talmud." 

JOST,  J.  M.     Geschichte  des  Judenthums  und  seiner  Sekten. 
*Judaism    at    the    World's    Parliament    of    Religions    (1894). 
KELLOGG,   S.    H.    The    Jews,    or    Prediction    and    Fulfilment 

(1887).     Ch.  V. 

*KOHLER,  K.  A.    Guide  to  Instruction  in  Judaism  (1899). 
McCAUL,  A.    The  Old  Paths  (1846).     Ch.  I. 
MILMAN,  H.  H.     History  of  the  Jews   (1829,  1866). 
*Nathanael.    Zeitschrift    fur    die    Arbeit    der    evangelischen 

Kirche  an  Israel.     Berlin. 
Saat  auf  Hoffnung.    Zeitschrift  fur  die  Mission  der  Kirche  an 

Israel.     Leipzig. 

The  Glory  of  Israel.     Bi-monthly  periodical.     Pittsburg. 
*The  Jewish  Encyclopedia  (1901-).     Every  phase  of  Judaism. 
The  Jewish  Era.    A  Christian  quarterly  in  behalf  of  Israel. 

Chicago. 
THOMPSON,   A.   E.    A   Century   of  Jewish   Missions    (1902). 

Especially  chs.  Ill,  V,  VIII,  XXIII. 
WILKINSON,  J.    "Israel  My  Glory"   (1892).    Especially  chs. 

XI,  XII. 
WISE,  I.   M.    Judaism    and    Christianity,  Their    Agreements 

and  Disagreements. 
WISE,  I.  M.    Judaism,  Its  Doctrines  and  Duties. 

*  Indicates  works  of  special  value  or  authority. 


VIII 

JUDAISM 

1.  Summary   of   Chief   Points   of   Doctrine. — i. 

Two  Great  Sections. —  Judaism  to-day  consists  of  two 
great  sections,  the  Orthodox  and  the  Reformed.  Both 
have  their  minor  subdivisions,  such  as  the  Chasidim  in 
Galicia,  Poland,  Southern  Russia,  and  European  Tur- 
key, the  Karaites  in  the  Crimea  and  the  Caucasus,  the 
Falashas  in  Abyssinia,  and  others,  too  numerous  to  be 
considered  here. 

2.  Fundamental  Principles  in  which  all  Jews  Be- 
liez'e. — •  All  believers  in  Judaism  agree  on  the  follow- 
ing articles  t1     I.  "  We  believe  that  there  is  one  God, 
an  only  Being,  eternal,  spiritual,  and  most  holy,  who 
created  heaven  and  earth  and  ruleth  the  world  with 
perfect  wisdom,  with  infinite  justice,  and  everlasting 
love.     He  is  one  God  and  none  besides  Him.     Him  we 
are  bidden  to  love  with  all  our  heart,  and  all  our  soul, 
and  all  our  might,  exclaiming :  '  Hear,  O  Israel,  the 
Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is  One.'    II.  (a)  We  believe 
that  all  men  are  children  of  God,  endowed  with  an 
immortal  spirit,  destined  to  share  in  the  eternal  hap- 
piness by  following  His  ways  of  righteousness,    (b) 
We  also  believe  that  Israel,  having  been  the  first  to 

1  Kohler,  "  Guide  for  Instruction  in  Judaism,"  p.  47. 
215 


2l6  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

recognize  God,  hath  received  a  special  revelation  of 
His  will  with  the  mission  of  being  His  chosen  priest 
among  the  nations  to  lead  them  to  truth  and  salvation. 
III.  We  believe  that  God  ruleth  and  judgeth  all  men 
and  nations  in  righteousness  and  love.  By  reward 
and  punishments,  by  joys  and  sufferings,  He  educateth 
and  leadeth  them  to  ever  higher  aims,  until  at  last 
they  shall  arrive  at  the  end  of  all  time,  when  truth, 
justice,  and  peace  shall  unite  mankind  in  the  life  of 
divine  love  and  eternal  salvation,  and  God  will  be 
King  and  Father  of  all.  This  is  the  Kingdom  of 
God  for  which  we  all  hope  and  wait,  and  for  which 
we  work  with  all  the  strength  of  body  and  soul." 

3.  The  Thirteen  Articles  of  Faith  of  the  Orthodox 
Jews. —  The  Orthodox  Jews  accept  the  thirteen  articles 
of  faith  which  Maimonides  formulated  at  the  close  of 
the  twelfth  century,  and  which  read  as  follows :  * 

God  and  His  Attributes. —  I.  I  firmly  believe  that 
God  is  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  all  creatures,  and 
that  He  alone  was,  is,  and  will  be  the  Maker  of  every- 
thing. 2.  I  firmly  believe  that  the  Creator  is  One ; 
that  there  is  no  Unity  like  unto  His  in  any  way ;  and 
that  He  alone  was,  is,  and  will  be  our  God.  3.  I 
firmly  believe  that  God  is  Incorporeal,  that  He  has  not 
any  corporeal  qualities,  and  that  nothing  can  be  com- 
pared unto  Him.  4.  I  firmly  believe  that  God  was 
the  first,  and  will  be  the  last.  5.  I  firmly  believe  that 
it  is  God  alone  to  whom  we  ought  to  pray,  and  that  no 
other  being  ought  to  be  addressed  in  prayer. 

Revelation  and  Prophecy. —  6.  I  firmly  believe  that 
all  the  words  of  the  prophets  are  true.  7.  I  firmly 

1  Friedlaender,  "  Text-book  of  the  Jewish  Religion,"  pp. 
37-52. 


JUDAISM  217 

believe  that  the  prophecy  of  our  Teacher,  Moses,  was 
a  prophecy  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word,  and  that 
he  was  the  chief  of  all  prophets,  both  of  those  before 
him  and  those  after  him.  8.  I  firmly  believe  that  the 
Torah,  at  present  in  our  hand,  is  the  same  that  was 
given  to  our  Teacher,  Moses,  peace  be  with  him.  9.  I 
firmly  believe  that  this  Law  will  not  be  changed,  and 
that  no  other  Law  will  be  revealed  by  the  Creator, 
blessed  be  His  name. 

God's  Providence  and  Justice. —  10.  I  firmly  be- 
lieve that  God  knows  all  the  deeds  of  the  sons  of  men, 
and '  all  their  thoughts ;  as  it  is  said,  He  who  hath 
formed  their  hearts  altogether,  He  knoweth  all  their 
deeds,  n.  I  firmly  believe  that  God  rewards  those 
who  keep  His  commandments,  and  punishes  those  who 
transgress  His  commandments. 

The  Messiah. —  12.  I  firmly  believe  that  the  Anoint- 
ed (the  Messiah)  will  come;  and  although  He  tarries, 
I  wait  nevertheless  every  day  for  His  coming.1 

Future  Life. —  13.  I  firmly  believe  that  there  will  be 
a  resurrection  of  the  dead  at  the  time  when  it  shall 
please  the  Creator,  blessed  be  His  name. 

4.  The  Talmud. —  The  Orthodox  Jews  further  be- 
lieve that  on  Mount  Sinai  Moses  received  two  revela- 
tions; that  one  found  body  in  the  written  law,  and 
that  the  other  was  handed  down  orally  from  gen- 
eration to  generation.  The  oral  tradition  was  reduced 

1 M.  Friedlaender,  in  his  "  Text-Book  of  the  Jewish  Re- 
ligion," p.  49,  remarks  here :  "  By  the  Messianic  time  or  '  the 
days  of  the  Anointed,'  the  chief  of  our  national  hopes,  we 
mean:  (i)  the  days  of  the  restoration  of  Israel  to  the  Holy 
Land,  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  in  Jerusalem,  the  resump- 
tion of  the  Divine  Service  therein,  and  the  Divine  Glory  to 
Zion;  (2)  the  days  of  universal  cessation  of  warfare,  and  the 
highest  development  of  all  human  virtues  and  happiness." 


2l8  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

to  writing  and  called  Mishna.  The  comments,  criti- 
cisms, explanations,  and  discussions  of  the  learned 
rabbis  were  also  collected  and  called  Gemara.  Mishna 
and  Gemara  together  are  called  Talmud,  and  obedience 
is  due  its  prescriptions.  "  The  Chief  Rabbi  has  re- 
solved not  to  permit  a  single  infraction  of  the  Oral 
Law,  but  to  have  the  whole  Talmud  received  and  ac- 
knowledged as  divine,"  were  the  words  of  the  Chief 
Rabbi  of  Great  Britain,  when  he  confirmed  the  ban 
of  excommunication  against  minister  and  congregation 
of  the  Reformed  Synagogue  in  London  in  1845. 

5.  Beliefs  of  Reformed  Judaism. —  The  Reformed 
Jews  are  now  agreed  in  their  dissent  from  Orthodoxy, 
but  are  divided  in  principle  —  some  entirely  ignoring 
the  Divinity  of  the  Old  Testament,  some  accepting  so 
much  of  it  as  Divine  as  suits  their  own  tastes,  and 
some  retaining  a  little  of  both  Scripture  and  Talmud. 
They  have  given  up  hope  of  the  coming  of  a  personal 
Messiah,  but  they  wait  for  the  coming  of  the  Mes- 
sianic age,  "  when  justice  will  reign  supreme  and  love 
will  bind  man  unto  man."  They  do  not  desire  to  go 
back  to  Palestine  and  have  abandoned  the  use  of  the 
Hebrew  language  in  prayer.  All  sacrificial  prayers 
are  omitted,  and  laws  and  statutes  are  set  down  ac- 
cording to  the  present  time.  Thus  the  creed  of  the 
Reformed  Jews  is  a  mixture  of  Unitarianism,  indif- 
ferentism,  and  intellectual  rationalism  which  elevates 
philosophy  above  religion. 

II.  The  Popular  Religion  in  Its  Public  and  Pri- 
vate Forms. — I.  Reformed  Judaism. — Modern  Juda- 
ism is  vastly  different  from  the  religion  inculcated 
by  the  Law  of  Moses.  Reformed  Judaism  is  more 
and  more  conforming  its  services  to  those  of  the 


JUDAISM  219 

Christian  Church.  Sabbath-schools,  Young  Men's 
Hebrew  Associations,  and  Ladies'  Societies,  together 
with  the  use  of  the  organ  and  hymns  and  choirs,  are 
proofs  of  this  rapidly  progressing,  external  conforma- 
tion. In  a  few  cases  the  Jewish  Sabbath  has  been 
changed  to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  the  Lord's  Day. 
There  is  thus  no  need  of  discussing  Reformed  Ju- 
daism, except  to  remark  that  Reformed  Judaism 
still  clings,  at  least  outwardly,  to  the  great  Jewish 
Holy  Seasons,  to  the  name  Jew,  and  in  the  majority 
of  its  followers  to  circumcision. 

2.  Orthodox  Judaism. —  Orthodox  Judaism  holds 
tenaciously,  like  the  Pharisee  of  our  Lord's  day,  to 
the  letter  of  the  Law.  But,  alas,  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  Testament  are  an  almost  unknown  book  to 
the  great  mass  of  its  followers.  The  Old  Testament 
is  formally  read  in  the  synagogues  every  Sabbath,  a 
chapter  at  a  time,  but  it  is  not  often  found  in  their 
dwellings,  and  the  Jews  are  generally  ignorant  of  its 
contents.  They  do  not  know  the  prophecies  about 
the  Messiah,  and  to  those  who  do  know  of  them,  it 
is  a  very  superficial  knowledge.  The  Bible  is  crowded 
out  by  the  Talmud.  And  the  Talmud  is  but  the  tra- 
dition of  the  fathers,  such  as  our  Savior  accused  the 
Jews  of  using  to  pervert  the  Scriptures.  Thus  Ortho- 
dox Judaism,  it  has  been  well  said,  wastes  its  strength 
in  laborious  triflings  and  unprofitable  acuteness,  for 
which  the  Talmud  alone  is  responsible.  Six  hundred 
and  thirteen  precepts  are  contained  in  this  immense 
work,  which  controls  and  governs  the  life  of  the  Or- 
thodox Jew  and  decides  even  questions  of  the  highest 
moment  for  him. 

Religious  Rites  and  Customs. —  Circumcision,  the  re- 


22O  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

demption  of  the  first-born,  and  the  bar-mitzvah  (son 
of  the  commandment)  are  the  three  ceremonies  in  the 
religious  life  of  the  Orthodox  Jew  which  are  directly 
traceable  to  ancient  times.  The  wearing  of  the  phy- 
lacteries and  the  fringes,  and  the  putting  of  the 
nvzuzah  (sign)  upon  the  doorpost  are  based  upon 
Scripture  passages,  as  they  were  interpreted  by  the 
rabbis,  who  contributed  to  the  Talmud.  Eighty  days 
of  the  year  have  to  be  sacrificed  to  religious  duties 
and  observances.  Twenty-one  services  every  week  are 
held  in  the  synagogue  all  the  year  round.  The  grace 
after  every  meal  takes  up  about  ten  minutes.  No 
water  should  be  drunk,  no  food  be  eaten,  no  flower  be 
smelled,  yea,  no  thunder  be  heard,  without  the  offer- 
ing of  the  prescribed  prayers.  Birth  or  death,  joy  or 
sorrow,  all  require  special  prayers  and  religious  exer- 
cises. The  festivals  of  biblical  times  are  still  kept, 
but,  alas,  are  buried  under  a  mass  of  liturgical  and 
ceremonial  prescriptions  of  the  Talmud.  In  brief,  Tal- 
mudism  is  a  slavery  of  the  mind,  unparalleled,  except 
perhaps  by  the  Popery  of  the  dark  ages  of  Christen- 
dom. 

III.  Weaknesses  and  Evils  of  Judaism. — The 
weaknesses  and  evils  of  both  Orthodox  and  Reformed 
Judaism  are  caused  by  the  fact  that  in  neither  section 
does  the  Word  of  God  pure  and  simple  hold  sway. 
The  Orthodox  Jew  has  added  to  the  Word  of  God ;  the 
Reformed  has  taken  away  from  it. 

i.  Prayer-book  of  Orthodox  Jews. —  The  weak- 
nesses of  Orthodox  Judaism  are  made  very  apparent 
by  the  eight  volumes  of  its  Prayer-book.  "  It  is  the 
product  of  many  ages  and  varied  talents.  It  is  a 
compendium  of  ritual  in  which  symbol  and  ceremony 


JUDAISM  221 

are  blended,  types  and  shadows  substituted  for  scrip- 
ture realities.  Fasting  and  prayer  take  the  place  of  sac- 
rifices. A  lamb  bone  and  a  consecrated  passover  cake 
is  the  substitute  for  the  paschal  lamb,  and  wherever 
Scripture  puts  repentance,  the  word  fasting  is  substi- 
tuted; and  for  the  word  righteousness,  almsgiving  is 
used.  In  this  liturgy,  every  usage  both  for  the  social, 
domestic,  and  religious  circle  is  provided  for,  and  most 
of  the  ten  thousand  rabbinic  ordinances  regulating 
Judaism  find  an  echo  in  this  liturgy.  The  Psalms 
are  classified  as  charms  and  amulets  for  all  the  events 
and  vicissitudes  of  life.  The  angelic  host  is  invoked, 
and  a  mystic  name  is  assigned  each  angel.  Dreams 
are  elevated  to  the  position  of  divine  revelation,  for 
which  a  repertoire  of  interpretation  exists,  and  a  very 
pathetic  prayer  for  dreams  is  inserted  in  the  solemn 
service  of  the  synagogue  on  high  festivals.  In  the 
liturgy  the  Jew  has  his  directorium  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave;  it  is  his  oracle  and  guide  to  the  numerous 
superstitions  by  which  the  doctrines  of  purgatory, 
prayers  for  the  dead,  resurrection,  eternal  life,  etc., 
are  hemmed  in  "  (Krcenig,  "  The  Religious  Condition 
of  the  Jews,"  p.  9). 

2.  Zionism. —  Another  weakness  of  Orthodox  Juda- 
ism is  made  apparent  by  Zionism.  The  desires  of  a 
homeless  people  for  its  rightful  home,  the  longings  of 
a  suffering  and  persecuted  nation  for  liberty  and  hap- 
piness, for  safety  and  peace,  find  expression  in  this 
movement.  It  speaks  to  us  of  the  expectation  of  a 
coming  Messiah  and  of  a  return  to  Palestine;  but  it 
shows  most  clearly  that  the  expected  Messiah  is  to  be 
"  a  descendant  of  the  house  of  David,  a  human  being, 
and  not  any  more  of  divine  descent  than  any  other 


222  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

man."  He  will  be  anointed  to  be  at  the  head  of  the 
Jewish  nation  and  a  source  of  peace  and  happiness  to 
all  mankind. 

3.  Weakness  of  Reformed  Judaism. —  This  consists 
in  its  giving  up  the  hope  of  the  coming  of  a  personal 
Messiah  and  the  faith  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
Testament  as  the  inspired  Word  of  God,  and  its  more 
and  more  apparent  drift  toward   intellectual   ration- 
alism. 

4.  Jewish  Doctrine  of  Sin. —  The  chief  weakness  of 
Judaism,  Orthodox  and  Reformed,  is  its  ignorance  of 
the  scriptural  teaching  concerning  sin  and  atonement. 
M.  Friedlaender,  in  his  book,  "  The  Jewish  Religion," 
mentions  neither  "  iniquity,"  nor  "  wickedness,"  nor 
"  sin."     The  punishment  of  the  wicked  is  mentioned 
in  the   eleventh  principle  of  Judaism,   but  who  the 
wicked  are  we  are  not  told.     Isaac  M.  Wise,  in  "  Ju- 
daism :    Its  Doctrines  and  Duties,"  says :  "  Any  person 
neglecting  or  refusing  to  obey  the  laws  of  God  is  a 
sinner."     "  God  being  all-just  and  most  merciful,  pro- 
vided a  remedy  for  the  sinner  in  bestowing  on  man 
the  ability  to  stop  sinning  and  to  return  to  the  path 
of     righteousness."     "  The     sinner,     having     become 
aware  of  his  sins  and  repenting  cordially,  feels  that 
remorse  and  self-contempt  which  sin  produces.     Then 
he  must  manfully  struggle  to  overcome  the  cause  and 
effect  of  sin."     "  The  cause  of  sin  is  the  enslaved  will 
of  the  sinner.     Therefore,   in   order   to   remove   this 
cause,  he  must  make  his  will  free  from  the  power  of 
vice,  by  humbling  himself  before  God,  practicing  char- 
ity and  goodness,  and  learning  to  despise  wickedness 
and  to  love  goodness."     K.  Kohler,  in  his  "  Guide  for 
Instruction  in  Judaism,"  says :     "  Sin  is  a  power  of 


JUDAISM  223 

evil,  dwelling  in  no  other  being  but  man.  .  .  .  Sin 
is  the  power  which  induces  man  to  do  wrong,  but  does 
not  compel  him  to  do  so,  and  man's  god-like  nature 
consists  in  his  mastery  over  sin.  .  .  .  The  man 
who  has  sinned  still  remains  God's  child  and  may  ob- 
tain His  forgiveness  if  he  repents,  forsakes  his  ways, 
and  turns  to  the  right  path.  Repentance  is  a  feeling 
of  sorrow  and  pain  for  having  done  wrong,  mingled 
with  shame  and  self-reproach.  And  this  will  lead  to 
a  change  of  heart,  if  we,  amidst  deep  self-humiliation 
[fasting]  and  prayer,  invoke  God's  pardon  and  prom- 
ise to  improve  our  ways.  We  are,  then,  no  longer 
the  same  sin-laden  creatures  with  hearts  torn  by  bitter 
remorse.  We  try  to  undo  our  sins.  Repentance 
works  reconciliation,  atonement,  which  means  at-one- 
ment,  setting  ourselves  at  one  with  God,  our  Heavenly 
Father."  We  thus  see  that  Judaism  does  not  think  of 
sin  as  the  state  of  sin  but  as  the  act  of  sin.  Rev.  Mr. 
Banning  has  well  said :  "  Now  surely  the  state  of  sin 
bears  the  same  relation  to  the  act  of  sin  that  symp- 
toms do  to  disease.  We  are  very  sorry  to  see  the 
symptoms,  but  far  more  terrible  is  the  state  of  which 
these  symptoms  are  the  sign.  But  a  Jew  loses  sight  of 
this  altogether  and  thinks  of  sin  as  an  act,  which 
has  to  be  acknowledged  and  then  will  be  forgiven." 
This  Jewish  view  of  sin  is  not  scriptural.  There  is 
no  reference  in  it  to  the  sin  of  ignorance,  nor  to  the 
sin  of  infirmity,  nor  to  original  sin.  Sin,  Judaism 
teaches,  is  disobedience  to  the  law  of  God  which  must 
be  confessed  to  God  and  atoned  for  to  our  fellow-men, 
and  then  it  will  be  forgiven. 

5.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Atonement. —  This  doctrine 
is  also  entirely  lost  to  Judaism.     The  difference  be- 


224  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

tween  the  Talmudic  and  the  scriptural  view  of  atone- 
ment is  vast.  The  doctrine  of  the  Bible  speaks  of  the 
essential  sacrifice  by  which  alone  man  has  reconcilia- 
tion with  God,  the  Father;  that  of  the  Talmud  speaks 
of  man  as  "  offering  himself  in  order  to  make  his 
peace  with  God  and  of  the  efforts  by  which  he  strives 
to  be  reconciled  to  his  neighbor  when  he  has  offended 
against  him."  Thus  we  find  K.  Kohler,  in  the  "  Guide 
for  Instruction  in  Judaism,"  saying :  "  Man  is  a  child 
of  God  and  is,  therefore,  ever  certain  of  the  forgiving 
mercy  of  God,  who  will  receive  him  in  favor  as  soon 
as  he  returns  penitently  to  Him.  No  priest  or  any  other 
mediator  is  necessary  to  work  atonement  for  man's 
sin ;  he  himself  can  make  himself  at  one  with  his 
Maker  by  casting  his  sinful  past  into  the  sea,  to  begin 
a  new  life  of  virtue,  goodness,  and  rectitude.  .  .  . 
In  order  to  feel  the  real  shame  and  grief  of  sin  and 
at  the  same  time  realize  the  glorious  privilege  of  be- 
ing allowed  to  implore  God's  pardon,  we  are  bidden 
to  humble  ourselves  before  God  in  prayer  and  peni- 
tence, in  fasting,  and  in  abstinence  from  all  worldly 
care  and  pleasure,  and  by  continual  devotion  and  sol- 
emn praise  of  the  Most  High  during  the  whole  day 
[and  the  previous  evening],  to  rise  to  the  highest 
perception  of  the  divine  love  and  holiness  and  thus  at- 
tain heavenly  peace."  Isaac  M.  Wise,  in  "  Judaism : 
Its  Doctrines  and  Duties,"  teaches :  "  The  Yom-Kip- 
pur  (Day  of  Atonement)  conveys  these  lessons:  i. 
He  who  falls  may  stand  erect  and  straight  after  he 
has  risen  again.  He  who  deserts  the  straight  path 
and  chooses  crooked  by-ways  may  return  to  the  level 
path  and  walk  in  it.  So  may  the  sinner  return  to  the 
path  of  righteousness  and  be  pious.  2.  By  our 


JUDAISM  225 

sins  we  cause  not  God  to  desert  us,  but  ourselves  to 
desert  God;  therefore  we  must  return  to  God,  and 
whenever  we  return  we  are  deserted  no  longer. 
3.  Our  pride,  vanity,  haughtiness,  sinfulness,  and 
wickedness  will  not  offend  the  immutable  Deity,  but 
benight  our  souls,  lead  us  to  forget  our  duties,  and 
wrong  our  neighbor.  If  the  darkness  of  sin  be  re- 
moved and  our  neighbor  appeased  by  our  own  re- 
pentance, we  must  behold  again  the  light  of  truth  and 
virtue.  4.  God  punishes  only  for  the  sake  of  cor- 
rection, for  He  is  most  gracious.  If  we  punish  our- 
selves for  our  misdeeds, —  and  remorse  and  repentance 
are  the  worst  punishment, —  God  would  not  punish  us 
again,  for  He  is  infinitely  just."  The  Catechism  pre- 
pared for  the  Jewish  Consistorial  Schools  in  Paris 
contains  the  following  questions  and  answers :  "  Q. 
By  what  means  can  the  sinner  be  absolved  from  his 
sins  and  obtain  pardon  from  God?  A.  By  penitence. 
Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  penitence?  A.  The  expres- 
sion of  a  sincere  repentance  for  the  sin  committed, 
regret  in  having  offended  God,  and  a  firm  resolution 
to  avoid  committing  sin  and  to  confess  our  errors 
before  the  Eternal.  Penitence  is  the  most  important 
favor  from  the  God  of  Mercy,  who,  knowing  our 
weakness,  has  given  us  the  means  of  obtaining  pardon 
for  our  sins,  and  to  regain  divine  grace."  No  other 
proofs  are  needed  to  show  that  modern  Judaism,  both 
Orthodox  and  Reformed,  has  lost  all  conception  of 
the  scriptural  idea  of  sin  and  atonement,  and  that  the 
doctrine  of  human  merit  has  been  enthroned  by  it. 

6.  Other  Evils  of  Orthodox  Judaism. —  There  are 
some   other   evils   and   weaknesses   which   belong  to 


226  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

.Orthodox  Judaism  almost  exclusively,  and  which  are 
so  numerous  that  we  can  only  touch  upon  them  here. 

Selfishness. —  The  accusation  has  often  been  brought 
against  the  Talmud  that  it  causes  its  strict  adherents 
to  become  utterly  selfish.  The  charity  of  the  Talmud 
is  indeed  limited  to  its  Jewish  kinsmen  in  the  flesh. 
Alms,  as  well  as  the  common  courtesies  and  kindnesses 
of  domestic  and  social  life,  are  reserved  for  Jews  only. 
No  helping  hand  should  be  given  to  idolaters,  which 
term  includes  Christians. 

Fables  of  the  Talmud. —  A  great  weakness  of  the 
system  is  further  found  in  the  many  fables  which 
the  Talmud  brings  before  its  devotees.  Space  does 
not  permit  us  to  give  examples. 

Loosening  of  Moral  Sense. —  A  graver  weakness  is 
the  fact  that  the  requirements  of  the  Talmud  are  so 
strict  and  exacting  that  its  adherents  search  with 
greatest  ingenuity  for  ways  of  evading  them.  Thus 
the  obligations  of  morality  are  loosened. 

Degradation  of  Women. —  Wherever  the  prescrip- 
tions of  the  Talmud  are  strictly  enforced,  there  we  find 
Jewish  women  in  a  painfully  degraded  condition.  Di- 
vorce is  granted  on  the  most  frivolous  pretexts.  Fe- 
male evidence  is  declared  incompetent  in  any  matter 
of  dispute.  Women  are  excluded  from  the  public 
worship  of  God,  having  to  be  satisfied  with  a  gallery 
in  the  house  of  God  without  being  able  to  take  part  in 
the  honorable  and  meritorious  acts  of  worship.  And 
women  are  not  required  any  more  than  slaves  to  learn 
the  revealed  will  of  their  Maker.  One  should  not 
forget,  however,  that  the  great  majority  of  these  weak- 
nesses and  evils  of  Orthodox  Judaism  appear  only 
where  the  people  are  still  under  the  iron  scepter  of 


JUDAISM  227 

the  rabbis  and  the  blighting  influence  of  the  traditions 
of  the  fathers,  the  Talmud. 

IV.  Strength  of  Judaism. — i.  Its  Teachings. — 
Judaism,  though  just  as  far  removed  from  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Old  Testament  as  Popery  is  from  that 
of  the  New,  has  as  its  basis  divine  revelation.  It 
teaches  monotheism  as  it  taught  it  to  the  world  in  the 
times  of  greatest  spiritual  darkness.  It  holds  forth 
a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments  and  pre- 
scribes the  duty  of  charity,  almsgiving,  and  hospital- 
ity. Judaism  in  its  purity  is  the  root  of  Christianity; 
and  salvation  is  of  the  Jews,  because  Jesus  Christ  him- 
self was  a  Jew.  A  true  Jew,  therefore,  freed  from 
the  fetters  of  tradition  and  superstition,  is  a  believer 
in  the  true  God,  though,  alas,  he  does  not  know  the 
full  truth,  nor  is  he  a  believer  in  the  moral  law  as 
God  gave  it  to  Moses.  Thus  he  is  moral,  honest,  dili- 
gent, charitable,  and  patriotic.  But  one  thing  is  lack- 
ing, the  saving  knowledge  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

2.  Its  Influence  on  Life. —  Judaism  is  rightly  called 
a  strong  religion,  not  so  much  on  account  of  the  large 
measure  of  truth  contained  in  it,  but  rather  on  account 
of  the  deep  hold  which  it  has  on  the  minds  of  its 
followers.     The  dreams  of  future  greatness,  the  pride 
of  natural  descent  from  Abraham,  and  the  safeguards 
placed  by  the  rabbis  around  the  religion  combine  to 
make  its  rule  so  secure,  that  only  the  hand  of  God 
can  break  the  iron  bonds. 

3.  The  Fence  of  the  Law. —  The  safeguards  which 
the  ancient  rabbis  erected  with  great  forethought  are 
called  Geder  Hatorah,  or  "  The  Fence  of  the  Law." 
We   follow   the   description   which   Kroenig  gives   of 
them  in  "  The  Religious  Condition  of  the  Jews." 


228  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

Rabbinical  Injunctions. —  Every  injunction  of  the 
rabbis  is  armed  with  divine  authority  and  an  ipse  dixit 
for  it  is  found  from  the  written  word  by  straining 
some  passage  of  Scripture.  This  will  best  be  illus- 
trated by  a  few  short  quotations  from  the  Talmud: 
"  He  who  contradicts  his  rabbi,  it  is  the  same  as  if  he 
had  contradicted  the  Divine  Majesty,  as  it  is  written 
(  Num.  26 : 9) , '  They  strove  against  the  Lord.'  "  "  He 
who  transgresses  the  words  of  the  rabbis  is  worthy  of 
death."  "  It  is  more  criminal  to  teach  anything  con- 
trary to  the  ordinances  of  the  scribes  than  against  the 
written  law." 

Insistence  on  Observing  Customs. —  All  Chukath 
Hagoyim,  i.  e.,  "  customs  and  usages,"  adopted  by 
the  Gentiles,  either  domestic,  religious,  or  social,  are 
forbidden.  Kneeling  in  private  or  ^public  worship  is 
thus  forbidden,  although  it  is  not  denied  by  the  rabbis 
that  kneeling  is  the  most  proper  attitude  in  devotion, 
and  they  have  made  a  concession  in  the  matter  of 
kneeling  in  the  most  solemn  part  of  the  service  on 
the  Day  of  Atonement.  Prayer  with  uncovered  head 
is  forbidden  for  the  same  reason;  and  a  multitude  of 
similar  prohibitions  serve  as  means  of  preventing  any 
intercourse  with  Gentiles,  which  expression  includes 
Christians. 

Excommunication. —  Anyone  who  shall  in  any  way, 
by  word  or  deed,  transgress  against  the  injunction  of 
the  rabbis  or  call  in  question  their  divine  authority,  is 
amenable  to  the  Cherem,  or  the  ban  of  excommuni- 
cation. This  holds  good  either  in  the  case  of  an  in- 
dividual or  a  community,  and  is  enforced  with  the 
utmost  severity.  It  is  a  favorite  means  of  fighting 


JUDAISM  229 

Christian  missions  among  the  Orthodox  Jews  and  has 
great  influence. 

4.  Literary  and  Intellectual  Power  of  the  Jews. —  It 
has  been  well  said  that  "  every  one  really  acquainted 
with  the  character  of  the  Jewish  people,  in  their  more 
favorable  circumstances,  will  pronounce  them  to  be  a 
literary  and  highly  intellectual  race,  who,  at  every 
period  of  a  long  and  calamitous  history,  have  given 
birth  to  authors  of  distinguished  name,  and  who  at 
present  can  boast  of  an  extensive  literature."  At  four 
years  of  age,  the  Orthodox  Jew's  son  begins  to  learn 
the  letters  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet.  As  soon  as  he  can 
pronounce  tolerably  well,  he  is  taught  to  remember 
the  meanings  of  the  words.  He  knows  no  grammar 
and  no  dictionary,  as  he  thus  reads  the  Pentateuch. 
Soon,  however,  he  goes  over  it  all  again  with  the  as- 
sistance of  the  rabbinical  commentary.  The  work  of 
one  rabbi  after  another  is  perused,  until  at  last  the 
study  of  the  Talmud  is  commenced.  At  the  age  of 
thirteen  he  becomes  "  a  son  of  the  commandment," 
and  is  considered  responsible  for  himself  and  for  his 
sins.  If  at  that  time  he  is  considered  hopeful  and 
talented,  the  men  of  means  among  the  Orthodox  Jews 
"  vie  with  each  other  in  anxiety  to  form  an  alliance 
of  marriage  with  him."  In  this  anxiety,  which  is 
caused  by  a  hope  of  Messiah's  being  born  in  the  fam- 
ily, is  found  one  of  the  strongest  motives  for  the  ac- 
quisition and  patronage  of  the  Talmud.  Thus  the 
talented  Jew  studies  on  during  his  whole  life,  and 
thus  the  literary  and  intellectual  character  of  the  race 
is  perpetuated.  Even  those  Orthodox  Jews  who  are 
occupied  in  the  pursuits  of  the  world,  fill  up  their 
leisure  hours  with  the  reading  of  the  Talmud  and  rab- 


230  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

binical  literature.  Why?  Because  they  have  been 
taught  that  the  whole  law  may  be  fulfilled  by  means 
of  the  attainment  of  a  certain  quantity  of  knowledge. 

V.  Best  Methods  of  Missionary  x  Approach. —  i. 
Demeanor. —  More  perhaps  than  in  any  other  Chris- 
tian work  the  missionary  to  the  Jews  ought  to  be 
filled  with  love;  not  merely  with  love  for  the  Master 
and  His  cause,  but  specifically  with  love  for  the  Jews 
and  a  desire  for  their  evangelization.  The  Jews  have 
been  persecuted  for  so  many  centuries  and  have 
been  so  continually  exposed  to  the  antipathy  of  nom- 
inal Christians  that  they  are  very  quick  to  detect 
whether  the  missionary  loves  them  and  their  souls,  or 
not.  The  missionary  to  the  Jews  against  whom  the 
cry,  "  Antisemite !  "  is  raised  with  the  faintest  appear- 
ance of  truth,  has  at  best  only  the  possibility  of  over- 
coming this  prejudice  by  years  of  patient  labor. 
Therefore  love,  love  to  Christ,  love  to  the  despised 
and  neglected  brethren  of  our  divine  Master,  must 
be  written  with  letters  of  fire  upon  the  life  and  words 
and  acts  and  deeds  of  the  missionary  to  the  Jews. 

2.  Points  of  Antagonism  to  be  Avoided  at  First. — 
We  would  warn  the  missionary  against  all  vain  dis- 
putations based  upon  the  Talmud.  They  lead  to  noth- 
ing and  may  make  the  missionary  ridiculous  in  the 
eyes  of  his  hearers,  because  it  is  almost  impossible  for 
him  to  become  as  familiar  with  its  teachings  as  is  the 
Jew  who  has  studied  it  from  early  youth.  Person- 
ally we  do  not  believe  that  any  missionary  should 
waste  his  time  thus,  but  he  should  rather  build  upon 
the  points  of  agreement  between  Judaism  and  Chris- 

1  By  missionary  we  understand  exclusively  Christians  of  Gen- 
tile birth. 


JUDAIS1I  231 

tianity,  without  putting  too  much  stress  upon  the  fact 
that  Christianity  is  the  glorious,  full-orbed  day  and 
Judaism  the  daybreak  of  the  true  religion. 

3.  Points  of  Agreement  Bet-ween  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity.—  These  points  of  agreement  are  quite  numer- 
ous, and  can  be  only  touched  upon  in  this  brief  dis- 
cussion. There  is  first  of  all  the  unity  of  God.  The 
Christian  does  not  believe  in  three  gods,  but  in  three 
persons  in  one  God.  He  is  first  of  all  a  believer  in 
the  unity  of  God,  like  the  Jew.  Then  there  is  the 
common  Bible.  Adolph  Saphir,  referring  to  the  pro- 
cess by  which  he  became  a  Christian,  said,  "  I  made 
the  discovery  that  the  New  Testament  was  an  inspired 
appendix  to  the  Old."  That  is  a  very  good  way  of 
putting  it  to  the  Jew.  Again  there  is  the  fact  of  a 
consciousness  of  sin  and  of  a  longing  after  a  true 
atonement.  Deep  underneath  the  rubbish  which  mod- 
ern Judaism  has  heaped  upon  the  teaching  of  the  Old 
Testament  concerning  these  two  things, .  there  is  in 
very  many  Jewish  hearts  the  real,  deep  consciousness 
of  spiritual  need  and  helplessness.  Then  there  is  the 
promise  and  the  hope  of  a  Messiah,  and  we  might 
quote  other  points  of  agreement  between  Judaism  and 
Christianity.  But  enough  has  been  said. 

VI.  Objections  Urged  Against  Christianity. —  I. 
The  Person  of  Christ. —  The  objections  against  Jesus 
Christ  are,  I  think,  quite  familiar  to  every  reader.  He 
is  called  the  son  of  Joseph,  or  worse  still,  a  "  bastard." 
His  divinity  is  denied.  His  miracles  are  declared  to 
have  been  done  by  the  help  of  the  unspeakable  name 
of  God,  or  of  the  devil.  He  did  not  rise  from  the 
dead.  His  death  was  simply  that  of  a  martyr.  And 
so  on.  We  would  call  especial  attention  to  the  great 


232  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

objection  against  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  which 
hides  itself  under  fulsome  praise  of  Jesus  the  Jew,  or 
the  prophet,  and  which  robs  him  of  his  highest  honor, 
making  him  a  man  even  as  we  are. 

2.  Four  Common  Objections. —  The  missionary 
should  be  prepared  to  answer  the  following  four  ob- 
jections, which  are  very  common:  It  is  objected,1 
(a)  that  the  Christian  religion  is  not  the  religion  of 
love,  because  Christians  have  been,  and  are,  perse- 
cuting the  Jews ;  (b)  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  which 
one  of  the  many  denominations  is  the  right  one ; 
(c)  that  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  cannot  be 
proved  by  its  progress,  because  Mohammedanism  has 
progressed  far  more  rapidly;  (d)  that  the  dignity  of 
the  person  of  Jesus  and  His  death  can  have  no  funda- 
mental value,  because  so  many  children  of  Christian 
parents,  who  call  themselves  Christians,  speak  in  an 
irreverent  manner  of  his  person,  work,  and  death. 

VII.  Essentials  of  Christianity  to  be  Urged.— 
i.  Five  Essentials. —  More  necessary,  however,  than 
the  answering  of  objections  is  the  urging  of  the  fol- 
lowing essentials  of  Christianity :  (a)  The  fact  of 
original  sin;  (b)  the  inability  of  man  to  save  himself; 
(c)  the  promise  of  the  Redeemer;  (d)  the  birth,  life, 
death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  of  Jesus;  (e)  the 
offices  of  Christ. 

2.  Christ's  Divinity. —  But  let  the  missionary  be 
very  careful  to  point  out  the  divinity  of  Christ  and 
also  the  fulfilment  of  the  Old  Testament  prophecies 
in  Him.  This  line  of  discussion  will  naturally  lead  to 

1  See  Nathaniel,  1888,  p.  83. 


JUDAISM  233 

a  presentation  of  all  the  weaknesses  and  evils  of  Juda- 
ism, Orthodox  and  Reformed. 

VIII.  Following  up  Interviews  or  Discussions. — 
In  Jewish  work,  far  more  than  in  any  other  missionary 
effort,  the  printed  page  is  necessary  to  follow  up  pos- 
sible impressions  made  by  personal  interview  and  dis- 
cussion. In  the  great  majority  of  cases,  the  inquirer 
will  prefer  to  call  upon  the  missionary,  in  order  that 
the  ire  of  his  Jewish  brethren  may  not  be  aroused. 
We  believe  that  in  the  work  among  the  Jews  the  In- 
quirer's Home  is  a  necessity  in  order  that  an  oppor- 
tunity may  be  given  for  quiet  searching  of  the  Word 
of  God  without  interference  from  rabbis  and  Jewish 
friends  and  without  temporal  cares.  But  whether  the 
missionary  invites  the  inquiring  Jew  into  the  Home, 
or  has  him  come  to  his  own  home,  or  to  the  mis- 
sionary headquarters,  or  calls  upon  him  at  regular 
intervals,  a  New  Testament  and  an  Old  Testament,  if 
necessary,  too,  should  be  provided  in  a  language  which 
the  inquirer  thoroughly  understands.  Tracts  or  books 
bearing  upon  the  difficulties  which  arise,  should  also  be 
put  into  his  hands.  For  the  Orthodox  Jew  we  would 
recommend  McCaul's  "  Old  Paths,"  while  for  the 
Reformed  Jew  the  missionary  can  easily  select  mate- 
rial from  the  large  Christian  literature  for  unbelievers. 
Above  all,  the  missionary  should  carefully  instruct  the 
inquirer  in  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Step  by  step  he 
should  lead  him  on,  prayerfully  trusting  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  If  he  thus  honors  God's  methods  and 
fully  avails  himself  of  the  means  provided,  there  can 
be  no  question  as  to  the  result. 


IX.  MOHAMMEDANISM 

BY  SAMUEL  M.  ZWEMER,  D.D.,  F.R.G.S. 
Missionary  to  Arabia  for  Fifteen  Years 


235 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

*ALi,  S.  A.  The  Life  and  Teachings  of  Mohammed  (1891). 
A  Mohammedan  apology. 

ARNOLD,  T.  W.  The  Preaching  of  Islam  (1896).  A  Moslem 
apology.  . 

BARROWS,  J.  H.,  editor.  The  World's  Parliament  of  Reli- 
gions (1893).  See  index  under  "Mohammedanism." 

DODS,  M.  Mohammed,  Buddha,  and  Christ  (1878).  Lects. 
I,  II. 

ELLIN  WOOD,  F.  F.  Oriental  Religions  and  Christianity  (1892). 
Lect.  VI. 

Encyclopaedias,  especially  "  The  Encyclopedia  of  Missions," 
and  the  "  Britannica,"  under  "  Mohammed,"  "  Moham- 
medanism." 

HAINES,  C.  R.  Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion  (1889).  Espe- 
cially chs.  II,  III,  V,  IX,  XI. 

"HUGHES,  T.  P.  A  Dictionary  of  Islam  (1885).  -Especially 
articles  "  Muhammad  "  and  "  Muhammadanism." 

JOHNSTONE,  P.  DEL.  Muhammad  and  His  Power  (1901). 
Chs.  IV-XI,  XIV,  XV. 

*KOELLE,  S.  W.  Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism  (1889). 
Books  I,  III. 

KUENEN,  A.  National  Religions  and  Universal  Religions 
(1882).  Lect.  I. 

*MuiR,  W.    Life  of  Mahomet  (1894). 

MUIR,  W.    The  Apology  of  Al  Kindy  (1887). 

MUIR,  W.     The  Coran,  Its  Composition  and  Teaching  (1878). 

*PALMER,  E.  H.  The  Qur'an.  (1880).  Sacred  Books  of  the 
East,  vols.  VI,  IX. 

*SALE,  G.    The  Koran.    Especially  the  Preliminary  Discourse. 

*SAUSSAYE,  P.  D.  CHANTEPIE  DE  LA.  Lehrbuch  der  Religions- 
geschichte  (1897).  Bd.  I,  326-396. 

SELL,  E.    The  Faith  of  Islam  (1896).    Chs.  I,  IV,  V. 

SELL,  E.     Essays  on  Islam  (1901). 

SPRENGER,  A.  Das  Leben,  und  die  Lehre  des  Mohammed 
(1869).  Especially  Kap.  I-III,  XI. 

STOBART,  J.  W.  H.  Islam  and  Its  Founder  (1876).  Especially 
chs.  X,  XI. 

*TISDALL,  W.  ST.  CLAIR-.  A  manual  of  the  Leading  Muham- 
madan  Objections  to  Christianity  (1904). 

TISDALL,  W.  ST.  CLAIR-.  The  Religion  of  the  Crescent 
(1895).  Lects.  I,  II,  IV. 

VAUGHAN,  J.  The  Trident,  the  Crescent,  and  the  Cross. 
(1876).  Ch.  VI. 

WHERRY,  E.  M.  A  Comprehensive  Commentary  on  the  Quran 
(1882).  Based  on  Sale's  Koran. 

*ZWEMER,  S.  M.  Arabia,  the  Cradle  of  Islam  (1900).  Chs. 
XVI-XIX,  XXX-XXXVI. 

ZWEMER,  S.  M.     The  Moslem  Doctrine  of  God   (1905). 
*  Indicates  works  of  special  valu«  or  authority. 


IX 

MOHAMMEDANISM 

1.  Introductory. — i.  Number  and  Distribution. — • 
The  faith  of  Islam,  or  Mohammedanism,  is  believed  by 
nearly  2oo,ooo,ooo1  nominal  adherents  and  is  thirteen 
centuries  old.     It  extends  over  three  continents,  from 
Peking  in  China  to  Sierra  Leone  in  West  Africa.    Two 
and   a    half    million    Russian    Moslems    spread    their 
prayer-carpets    toward    Mecca;    from    Zanzibar    and 
South   Africa  the  Moslems  pray  toward  the  north ; 
more  than  20,000,000  Chinese  Moslems  look  toward  the 
west;    and    from    darkest    Morocco  they    pray   east- 
ward to  the  Kaaba.     Mohammed's  word  has  been  ful- 
filled, "  So  we  have  made  you  the  center  of  the  nations 
that  you  should  bear  witness  to  men."     Among  these 
millions  of  Moslems  there  is  great  diversity  of  lan- 
guage, race,  education,  and  civilization,  but  all  have 
one  book  and  imitate  one  prophet. 

2.  Moslem  Sects. —  Islam  is  divided  into  many  sects 
and  schools  of  thought.     The  vast  majority  of  Mos- 
lems belong  to  the  Sunm  Sect,  which  has  four  orthodox 

1  Estimates  vary  and  census  reports  are  lacking  except  for 
Moslems  under  Christian  rulers.  The  new  "  Encyclopedia  of 
Missions"  gives  193,550,000;  Hubert  Jansen's  statistics  of  the 
Moslem  world  (Berlin,  1897),  259,680,672;  others  put  the  num- 
ber as  high  as  300,000,000  (William  E.  Curtis)  ;  but  see  the 
Missionary  Review  of  the  World  for  October,  1898.  The  esti-- 
mates  for  Africa  and  China  are  generally  too  high. 

337 


238  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

schools  of  theology  and  jurisprudence.  These  agree 
in  essentials  but  differ  in  their  interpretation  of  cere- 
monial laws  and  are  more  or  less  rigid.  Central  Asia, 
Northern  India,  and  the  Turks  everywhere,  are 
Hanlflte;  Lower  Egypt,  southern  India,  and  the  Malay 
Archipelago  are  Shaflte;  upper  Egypt  and  North 
Africa  are  Malikite;  while  the  sect  of  Hanbalites  ex- 
ists only  in  central  and  eastern  Arabia.  The  heterodox 
Shiah  Sect  exists  chiefly  in  Persia  and  India,  and  num- 
bers less  than  ten  millions.  This  chapter  treats  only 
of  the  orthodox,  or  Sunni,  belief. 

3.  Some  Moslem  Terms. —  Islam  means  passive  res- 
ignation to  the  will  of  God,  and  it  fitly  designates  the 
religion  from  a  philosophical  standpoint.  Moham- 
medanism is  its  proper  name  from  the  practical  side, 
because  Mohammed  is  to  all  Moslems  the  ideal  of 
character  and  the  model  of  conduct.  Moslems  describe 
their  religion  under  two  heads,  Iman  and  Dm, — 
what  it  is  necessary  to  believe  and  what  it  is  necessary 
to  do  for  salvation.  This  resembles  the  division  of 
the  Westminster  "  Shorter  Catechism." 

II.  Iman,  or  What  a  Moslem  Believes. — It  is  in- 
cumbent to  have  a  firm  faith  in  six  articles ;  God,  His 
books,  His  prophets,  the  Day  of  Judgment,  and 
predestination.  The  sources  of  Moslem  teaching 
on  these  topics  are  apparent  to  the  student  of  history. 
Islam  is  not  an  invention  but  a  concoction.  The 
genius  of  Mohammed  mixed  old  ingredients  into  a  new 
panacea  for  humanity,  sugar-coated  it  with  an  easy- 
going morality,  and  forced  it  down  by  means  of  the 
sword.  At  a  time  when  many  religions  existed  in 
Arabia  and  the  Kaaba  was  a  pantheon,  the  heteroge- 
neous elements  of  Islam  were  molded  into  one  sys- 


MOHAMMEDANISM  239 

tern.  These  elements  were  partly  heathen  (Arabian), 
partly  Christian  (Abyssinian),  but  for  the  most  part 
they  were  borrowed  from  Talmudic  Judaism.  In  the 
following  summary  of  Islam's  creed  and  practice  one 
may  read  between  the  lines  the  sources  of  Mohammed's 
teaching. 

1.  The    Moslem    Idea    of    God,    "La    ildha    ilia 
'llahu." — "  There  is  no  God  but  God  "  is  the  first  clause 
in  the  Moslem  creed.     Gibbon  calls  it  an  eternal  truth, 
but  Palgrave,  Noble,  Osborne,  Hauri,  and  other  stu- 
dents of  Islam  have  questioned  whether  the  monothe- 
ism of  Islam  is  worthy  to  be  compared  with  that  of 
Judaism,  or  of  Christianity.     Islam  reduces  God  to  the 
category  of  the  will.     The   Koran   shows   that   Mo- 
hammed had  a  measureably  correct  idea  of  the  physical 
attributes  of  God  but  an  absolutely  false  conception  of 
His  moral  attributes.     The  conception  of  God  is  nega- 
tive.    Absolute  sovereignty  and  ruthless  omnipotence 
are  His  chief  attributes,  while  His  character  is  imper- 
sonal, that   of   a   Monad.     The   Christian   truth   that 
"  God  is  love  "  is  to  the  learned  Moslem  blasphemy 
and  to  the  ignorant  an  enigma.     Islam  is  "  the  Pan- 
theism of  Force." 

2.  Angels. —  Under  this  head  we  group  the  Moslem 
belief  in  three  species  of  spiritual  beings,  viz.,  angels, 
jinn,  and  devils.     This  belief  is  not  theoretical  but  is 
intensely  practical. 

(a)  Angels  were  created  out  of  light  and  are  en- 
dowed with  life,  speech,  and  reason.  Of  the  four 
archangels,  Gabriel  reveals  truth,  Michael  is  patron  of 
the  Jews,  Israfil  will  sound  the  last  trump,  and  Azrail 
is  the  angel  of  death.  Angels  are  inferior  to  the 
prophets  (Surah  2:32).  There  are  two  recording 


240  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

angels  for  each  person,  who  write  down  his  good  and 
his  ill.  Munkar  and  Naklr  are  two  black  angels  with 
blue  eyes  who  interrogate  men  after  burial  in  the  grave 
and  mete  out  terrible  blows  to  those  whose  replies 
prove  them  not  Moslems.  Therefore,  at  a  funeral 
parting  instructions  are  given  the  deceased  in  the 
grave.  The  Koran  seems  to  teach  that  angels  inter- 
cede for  men  (Surah  42:3).  The  names  of  guardian 
angels  are  used  in  exorcism;  eight  special  angels  sup- 
port Allah's  throne;  and  nineteen  have  charge  of 
hell-fires. 

(b)  Jinn,  or  genii,  are  either  good  or  evil.     They 
were  created  from  fire,  are  of  diverse  shapes,  marry 
and  propagate,  and  are  mortal.     The  Koran  and  ortho- 
dox Moslem  theology  are  full  of  teachings  about  their 
origin,  office,  power,  and  destiny.     Read  the  "  Arabian 
Nights  "  to  get  an  idea  of  the  effect  of  this  belief  on 
life  and  morals.     No  pious  Moslem  to-day  doubts  that 
they  exist,  nor  that  Solomon  sealed  some  of  them  up  in 
brass  bottles.     The  chief  abode  of  jinn  is  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Kaf,  which  encompass  the  world;  they  also 
frequent  baths,  wells,  ruined  houses,  etc.     For  fear  of 
jinn  millions  of  the  ignorant  in  Moslem  lands  are  all 
their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage.     This  article  of  their 
creed  is  the  mother  of  a  thousand  foolish  and  degrad- 
ing superstitions,  yet  it  can  never  be  abandoned  with- 
out doing  violence  to  the  Koran. 

(c)  The  devil    (Sheitan,   or   Iblls)    has   a  proper 
name,  Azazll.     He  was  expelled  from  Eden  for  refusal 
to  prostrate  before  Adam  when  God  commanded  it 
(Surah  7:10-17).     His  demonic  host  is  numerous  and 
terrible.     Noteworthy    among   them    are    Harut   and 


MOHAMMEDANISM  24! 

Marut,  two  evil  spirits  that  teach  men  sorcery  at 
Babylon. 

3.  The  Books  of  God. —  Islam  is  decidedly  a  book- 
ish religion,  for  Moslems  believe  that  God  "sent  down  " 
104  sacred  books.  Their  doctrine  of  inspiration  is 
mechanical.  Adam  received  ten  books,  Seth,  fifty, 
Enoch,  thirty,  and  Abraham,  ten;  all  of  these  are 
utterly  lost.  The  four  books  that  remain  are  the 
Torah  (Law),  which  came  to  Moses,  the  Zabur 
(Psalms),  which  David  received,  the  Injil  (Gospel), 
of  Jesus,  and  the  Koran.  The  Koran  is  uncreated  and 
eternal;  to  deny  this  is  rank  heresy.  And  while  the 
three  other  books  are  highly  spoken  of  in  the  Koran, 
they  now  exist,  Moslems  say,  only  in  a  corrupted  form, 
and  their  precepts  have  been  abrogated  by  the  final 
book  to  the  last  prophet,  Mohammed. 

The  Koran  is  a  little  smaller  than  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  extent;  it  has  114  chapters  bearing  fanciful 
titles  borrowed  from  some  word  or  phrase  in  the  chap- 
ter. The  book  has  no  chronological  order,  logical 
sequence,  or  rhetorical  climax.  Its  jumbled  verses 
throw  together  piecemeal  fact  and  fancy,  laws  and 
legends,  prayers  and  imprecations.  It  is  unintelligible 
without  a  commentary,  even  for  a  Moslem.  Moslems 
regard  it  as  supreme  in  beauty  of  style  and  language, 
and  miraculous  in  its  origin,  contents,  and  authority. 
From  the  Arab's  literary  standpoint  it  is  indeed  a  re- 
markable book.  Its  musical  jingle  and  cadence  are 
charming,  and,  at  times,  highly  poetical  ideas  are 
clothed  in  sublime  language.  But  the  Koran  is  re- 
markable most  of  all,  not  because  of  its  contents,  but 
for  its  omissions  —  not  because  of  what  it  reveals,  but 
for  what  it  conceals  of  "  former  revelations." 


242  RELIGIONS    OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

The  defects  of  its  teaching  are  many :  (a)  It  is  full 
of  historical  errors;  (b)  it  contains  monstrous  fables; 
(c)  it  teaches  a  false  cosmogony;  (d)  it  is  full  of  su- 
perstitions; (e)  it  perpetuates  slavery,  polygamy,  di- 
vorce, religious  intolerance,  the  seclusion  and  degrada- 
tion of  women,  and  petrifies  social  life.  All  this, 
however,  is  of  minor  importance  compared  with  the 
fact  that  the  Koran  ever  keeps  the  supreme  question  of 
salvation  from  sin  in  the  background  and  offers  no 
doctrine  of  redemption  by  sacrifice.  In  this  respect  the 
Koran  is  inferior  to  the  sacred  books  of  Ancient 
Egypt,  India,  and  China,  though  unlike  them  it  is 
monotheistic. 

4.  The  Major  and  Minor  Prophets. —  Mohammed  is 
related  to  have  said  that  there  were  124,000  prophets 
(anbiya)  and  315  apostles  (rusul).  Six  of  the  latter 
are  designated  by  special  titles  and  are  the  major 
prophets  of  Islam.  They  are  as  follows:  Adam  is 
the  chosen  of  God ;  Noah,  the  preacher  of  God ;  Abra- 
ham, the  friend  of  God;  Moses,  the  spokesman  of 
God;  Jesus,  the  word  of  God;  and  Mohammed,  the 
apostle  of  God.  In  addition  to  this  common  title  Mo- 
hammed has  201  other  names  and  titles  of  honor  by 
which  he  is  known ! 

Only  twenty-two  others  —  minor  pro'phets  —  are 
mentioned  in  the  Koran  beside  these  six,  although  the 
host  of  prophets  is  so  large.  They  are:  Idrls 
(Enoch),  Hud  (Heber),  Salih  (Methusaleh  or  Paul), 
Ishmael,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Lot,  Aaron,  Shuaib 
(Jethro),  Zacharias,  John  the  Baptist,  David,  Solomon, 
Elias,  Elijah,  Job,  Jonah,  Ezra,  Lokman  (Aesop. 
Balaam?)  Zu '1-Kifl  (Isaiah  or  Obadiah?),  and 
Zu '1  Karnain  (Alexander  the  Great).  The  account 


MOHAMMEDANISM  243 

of  these  prophets  is  confused,  yet  we  must  give  credit 
to  some  Moslem  commentators  lor  doubting  whether 
Lokman  and  Alexander  were  really  prophets.  Mos- 
lems say  that  they  make  no  distinction  between  the 
prophets  but  love  and  reverence  them  all.  Moham- 
med, however,  supersedes  all,  supplants  all  in  the 
hearts  and  lives  of  his  followers. 

The  Mohammed  of  history  and  the  Mohammed  of 
Moslem  tradition  are  two  different  persons.  In  the 
Koran,  Mohammed  is  thoroughly  human  and  liable  to 
error.  He  is  now  considered  to  have  had  a  pre-exist- 
ence  before  creation,  to  have  been  perfectly  sinless,  and 
is  the  only  powerful  intercessor  on  the  Day  of  Judg- 
ment. He  is  the  standard  of  character  and  the  model 
of  conduct.  Every  detail  of  his  early  life  is  sur- 
rounded with  fantastical  miracles  which  prove  his 
divine  commission.  Even  the  evil  in  his  life  is  at- 
tributed to  God's  permission  or  command,  so  that  his 
very  faults  of  character  become  his  endless  glory  and 
the  signs  of  his  superiority, —  e.  g.,  his  polygamy  and 
cruel  wars.  He  dwells  in  the  highest  heaven  and  is 
several  degrees  above  Jesus,  our  Savior,  in  honor  and 
station.  His  name  is  never  uttered  or  written  without 
the  addition  of  a  prayer.  Yet  a  calm  and  critical  study 
of  his  life  proves  him  to  have  been  an  ambitious  and 
sensual  enthusiast,  who  did  not  scruple  to  break  nearly 
every  precept  of  the  moral  law  to  further  his  ends. 
(See  Muir,  Koelle,  Sprenger,  and  Weil;  but  also  the 
earliest  Moslem  biography  by  Ibn  Hisham). 

5.  The  Day  of  Judgment. —  This  occupies  a  large 
place  in  the  Koran.  It  is  called  the  Day  of  Resur- 
rection, of  Separation,  of  Reckoning,  or  simply  the 
Hour.  Most  graphic  and  terrible  descriptions  portray 


244  RELIGIONS  OF  MISSION   FIELDS 

the  terror  of  that  day.  Moslems  believe  in  a  literal 
resurrection  of  the  body  from  a  living  principle  which 
resides  in  the  os  sacrum:  This  bone  will  be  impreg- 
nated by  a  forty  days'  rain  before  the  resurrection 
takes  place.  Moslems  believe  also  in  an  everlasting 
life  of  physical  joys,  or  physical  tortures.  The  Mos- 
lem paradise  in  the  words  of  the  Koran  is  "  a  garden 
of  delight,  .  .  .  with  couches  and  ewers  and  a  cup 
of  flowing  wine ;  their  brows  ache  not  from  it  nor  fails 
the  sense;  theirs  shall  be  the  Houris  .  .  .  ever 
virgins."  What  commentators  say  on  these  texts  is 
often  unfit  for  translation.  The  orthodox  interpreta- 
tion is  literal,  and  so  was  that  of  Mohammed ;  because 
the  traditions  give  minute  particulars  of  the  sanitary 
laws  of  heaven,  as  well  as  of  its  sexual  delights.  The 
Moslem  hell  is  sevenfold,  and  "  each  portal  has  its 
party."  All  the  wealth  of  Arabic  vocabulary  is  ex- 
hausted in  describing  the  terrors  of  the  lost,  and 
Dante's  Inferno  is  a  summer-garden  compared  with 
the  Jehennom  of  Islam.  Connected  with  the  Day  of 
Judgment  are  the  signs  of  its  approach,  viz.,  the  com- 
ing of  an  Anti-Christ,  Dajjal,  the  return  of  Jesus  as  a 
Moslem  prince,  the  rising  of  the  sun  in  the  west,  the 
war  of  Gog  and  Magog,  etc. 

6.  Predestination. —  This  last  article  is  the  keystone 
in  the  arch  of  Moslem  faith.  It  is  the  only  philosophy 
of  Islam,  and  the  most  fertile  article  of  the  creed  in 
its  effects  on  everyday  life.  As  in  the  Christian 
Church,  this  doctrine  has  been  fiercely  discussed,  and 
what  might  be  called  ultra-Calvinism  has  carried  the 
day.  The  terminology  of  their  teaching  is  Calvinistic, 
but  its  practical  effect  is  pure  fatalism.  Most  Moslem 
sects  "  deny  all  free-agency  in  man  and  say  that  man 


MOHAMMEDANISM  24$ 

is  necessarily  constrained  by  the  force  of  God's  eternal 
and  immutable  decree  to  act  as  he  does."  God  wills 
both  good  and  evil;  there  is  no  escaping  from  the  ca- 
price of  His  decree.  Religion  is  Islam,  i.  e.,  resigna- 
tion. Fatalism  has  paralyzed  progress ;  hope  perishes 
under  the  weight  of  this  iron  bondage;  injustice  and 
social  decay  are  stoically  accepted;  no  man  bears  the 
burden  of  another.  Hauri  and  Osborne  show  in  their 
study  of  this  subject  how  its  blasting  and  deadening 
influence  are  felt  in  every  Moslem  land. 

III.  Din,  or  the  Religion  of  Good  Works. — While 
Islam,  in  general  means  resignation  to  the  will  of  God, 
Mohammed  stated  that  it  was,  especially,  to  be  sub- 
missive to  His  will  in  the  observance  of  five  duties. 
These  five  duties  merit  reward  and  are  called  "  the 
pillars,"  or  foundation,  of  religion.  Their  pious  ob- 
servance is  the  mark  of  a  true  Moslem ;  to  break  loose 
from  any  one  of  them  is  to  be  in  peril  of  damnation. 
Mohammed  said :  "  A  Moslem  is  one  who  is  resigned 
and  obedient  to  God's  will,  and  bears  witness  that 
there  is  no  God  but  God  and  that  Mohammed  is  His 
Apostle ;  and  is  steadfast  in  prayer,  and  gives  zakat, 
and  fasts  in  the  month  of  Ramazan,  and  makes  a  pil- 
grimage to  Mecca,  if  he  have  the  means."  We  give 
only  a  summary  of  these  five  duties. 

i.  The  Confession  of  the  Creed. —  It  is  the  shortest 
creed  in  the  world,  has  been  oftener  repeated,  and  has 
had  more  power  over  those  that  uttered  it  than  any 
other.  The  cree*d  is  so  brief  that  it  has  needed  no  re- 
vision for  thirteen  centuries.  It  is  taught  to  infants 
and  whispered  in  the  ears  of  the  dying.  Five  times  a 
day  it  rings  out  as  the  call  to  prayer  in  the  whole 
Moslem  world.  "  La  ilaha  ilia  'llahu :  Muhammadun 


246  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

Rasulu  'llah."  There  is  no  God  but  God, —  that  is  the 
whole  of  theology;  Mohammed  is  the  apostle  of 
God, —  that  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  ethics.  It  is 
related  that  the  prophet  said,  "  Whosoever  recites 
this  creed  shall  receive  rewards  equal  to  the  emanci- 
pating of  ten  slaves  and  shall  have  100  good  deeds 
put  to  his  account  and  100  of  his  sins  shall  be  blotted 
out,  and  the  words  shall  be  a  protection  from  the 
devil."  On  every  occasion  this  creed  is  repeated  by 
the  believer.  It  is  the  key  to  every  door  of  difficulty ; 
one  hears  it  in  the  bazaar  and  the  street  and  the 
mosque ;  sailors  sing  it  as  they  raise  their  sails ;  ham- 
mals  groan  it  to  raise  a  heavy  burden;  it  is  a  battle- 
cry  and  a  cradle-song,  an  exclamation  of  delight  and 
a  funeral  dirge.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  con- 
tinual, public  repetition  of  a  creed  has  been  a  source 
of  strength  to  Islam  for  ages,  as  well  as  a  stimulus  to 
fanaticism;  witness  the  use  of  this  creed  by  the  Dar- 
wish  orders. 

2.  Prayer. —  The  fact  that  Moslems  pray  often, 
early,  and  earnestly  has  elicited  the  admiration  of  many 
travelers,  who,  ignorant  of  the  real  character  and  con- 
tent of  Moslem  prayer,  judge  it  from  a  Christian  stand- 
point. What  the  Bible  calls  prayer  and  what  the  Mos- 
lem means  by  the  same  name  are,  however,  to  a  degree 
distinct  conceptions.  One  who  was  for  many  years  a 
missionary  in  India,  and  who  is  an  authority  on  Islam 
says :  "  Prayer  is  reduced  to  a  mechanical  act ;  and, 
in  judging  of  the  spiritual  character  of  Mohammedan- 
ism, we  must  take  into  careful  consideration  the  pre- 
cise character  of  these  devotional  services  five  times 
daily.  The  devotions  of  Islam  are  essentially  vain 
repetitions,  for  they  must  be  said  in  the  Arabic  Ian- 


MOHAMMEDANISM  247 

guage  [by  all  Moslems]  and  admit  of  no  change  or 
variety." 

A  necessary  preliminary  to  every  Moslem  prayer  is 
legal  purification.  Whole  books  have  been  written  on 
this  subject  describing  the  occasions,  method,  variety, 
and  effect  of  ablution  by  water  or,  in  its  absence,  by 
sand.  The  ritual  of  purification  is  one  of  the  chief 
shibboleths  of  the  many  Moslem  sects.  In  Mohamme- 
dan works  of  theology  there  are  chapters  on  the  proper 
use  of  the  toothpick,  on  the  different  kinds  of  water  al- 
lowed for  ablution,  and  on  all  the  varieties  of  un- 
cleanness.  After  washing  various  parts  of  the  body 
three  times  according  to  fourteen  rules,  the  Moslem 
is  ready  to  begin  prayer. 

The  five  proper  times  for  prayer  are  at  dawn,  just 
after  high  noon,  two  hours  before  sunset,  at  sunset, 
and  again  two  hours  after.  It  is  forbidden  to  say 
morning  prayers  after  the  sun  is  risen. 

Posture  is  of  prime  importance,  and  includes  facing 
the  Kibla,  i.  e.,  Mecca,  as  well  as  a  series  of  prostra- 
tions and  genuflections  more  easily  imitated  than  de- 
scribed. 

The  words  repeated  during  this  physical  exercise 
consist  of  Koranic  phrases  and  short  chapters,  which 
include  praise,  confession,  and  a  prayer  for  guidance. 
Often  the  chapters  chosen  have  no  connection  with  the 
topic  of  prayer.  Personal  private  petitions  are  allowed 
after  the  liturgical  prayers,  but  they  are  not  common. 
The  least  departure  from  the  rule  in  purification,  pos- 
ture, or  method  of  prayer  nullifies  its  effect,  and  the 
worshipper  must  begin  over  again.  Special  prayer  is 
obligatory  at  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  or  moon  and  on  the 
two  Moslem  festivals. 


248  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

3.  The    Month    of   Fasting. —  This    was    probably 
borrowed  by  Moslems  from  the  Christian  Lent.     There 
are  many  traditions  that  tell  how  important  fasting 
is.     Let  one  suffice :     "  Every  good  act  that  a  man 
does  shall  receive  from  ten  to  700  rewards;  but  re- 
wards of  fasting  are  beyond  bounds,  for  fasting  is  for 
God  alone  and  He  will  give  its  rewards."     The  chief 
Moslem  fast  is  that  of  the  month  of  Ramazan.     Yet 
it  is  a  fact  that  Mohammedans,  rich  and  poor,  spend 
more  on  food  in  that  month  than  in  any  other  month 
of  the  year;  and  it  is  also  true  that  physicians  have  a 
run  of  patients  with  troubles  from  indigestion  at  the 
close  of  this  religious  fast.     The  explanation  is  simple. 
Although  the  fast  extends  over  one  lunar  month,  it 
only  begins  at  dawn  and  ends  at  sunset  each  day. 
During  the  whole  night  it  is  usual  to  indulge  in  pleas- 
ure, feasting,  and  dinner  parties.     This  makes  clear 
what   Mohammed  meant  when   he   said    that  "  God 
would  make  the  fast  an  ease  and  not  a  difficulty."     On 
the  other  hand,  the  fast  is  extremely  hard  upon  the 
laboring  classes  when,  by  the  changes  of  the  lunar 
calendar,  it  falls  in  the  heat  of  summer  when  the  days 
are  long.     Even  then  it  is  forbidden  to  drink  a  drop  of 
water  or  take  a  morsel  of  food. 

4.  Zakat,  or  Legal  Alms. —  This  pillar  of  the  pious, 
like  all  the  others,  rests  rather  upon  the  authority  of 
tradition  than  upon  the  precepts  of  the  Koran,  since 
every  detail  in  its  observance  is  borrowed  from  the 
example  of  the  prophet  himself.     In  its  primitive  sense 
the  word  zakat  means  purification,  and  it  was  applied  to 
legal  alms,  or  the  poor  rate,  since  the  gift  of  a  portion 
of  one's  gain  or  property  would  purify,  or  sanctify,  the 
remainder.     These  compulsory  alms  were  in  the  early 


MOHAMMEDANISM  249 

days  of  Islam  collected  by  the  religious  tax-gatherer, 
as  they  still  are  in  some  Mohammedan  countries. 
Where  Moslems  are  under  Christian  rule,  the  rate  is 
paid  out  by  each  Mohammedan  according  to  his  own 
conscience.  The  rate  varies  greatly,  and  the  different 
sects  disagree  as  to  what  was  the  practice  of  the 
prophet.  Moreover,  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  precedent  in 
ihe  customs  of  pastoral  Arabia  for  the  present  methods 
of  acquiring  and  holding  property  in  lands  touched 
by  civilization.  The  greatest  details  are  given,  e.  g., 
regarding  zakat  on  camels, —  but  there  is  no  precedent 
for  zakat  on  railway  bonds !  One  fortieth  of  the  total 
income  is  about  the  usual  rate.  The  tithe  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  a  much  larger  portion  and  was  supple- 
mented by  many  free-will  offerings.  Charitable  offer- 
ings are  also  common  in  Islam,  but  generally  speaking, 
the  Moslem  who  gives  his  zakat  is  satisfied  that  he  has 
fulfilled  all  righteousness.  There  are  seven  classes  to 
whom  this  legal  alms  may  be  given,  viz.,  the  poor, 
the  homeless,  the  tax-collector,  slaves,  debtors,  those 
engaged  in  fighting  for  Islam,  and  wayfaring 
travellers. 

5.  The  Pilgrimage. —  The  pilgrimage  (Hajj)  to 
Mecca  is  not  only  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  religion  of 
Islam,  but  it  has  proved  one  of  the  strongest  bonds  of 
union  and  has  always  exercised  a  tremendous  influence 
as  a  missionary  agency.  Even  to-day  the  pilgrims 
who  return  from  Mecca  to  their  native  villages  in 
Java,  India,  and  West  Africa  are  fanatical  ambassa- 
dors of  the  greatness  and  glory  of  Islam.  From  an 
ethical  standpoint,  the  Mecca  pilgrimage,  with  its 
superstitious  and  childish  ritual,  is  a  blot  upon  Moham- 
medan monotheism.  But  as  a  clever  device  to  unite 


25O  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

the  Moslem  world  and  awaken  an  annual  and  ever- 
widening  esprit  de  corps  the  Mecca  pilgrimage  is  with- 
out a  rival.  The  number  of  pilgrims  that  come  to 
Mecca  varies  from  year  to  year;  although  a  Moslem 
tradition  says  that  it  is  always  72,000,  the  angels  com- 
pleting any  deficiency  in  the  number  of  earthly  pil- 
grims. The  vast  majority  arrive  by  sea  from  Egypt, 
India,  and  the  Malay  Archipelago.  The  pilgrim  cara- 
van from  Syria  and  Arabia  by  land  is  growing  smaller 
every  year.  All  told,  from  sixty  to  ninety  thousand 
pilgrims  reach  Mecca  at  the  time  of  the  Hajj. 

For  the  details  of  the  pilgrimage  one  must  read 
Burckhardt,  Burton,  or  other  travellers  who  have 
risked  their  lives  in  visiting  the  forbidden  cities  of 
Islam.  In  brief,  the  ceremonies  are  as  follows :  After 
donning  the  garb  of  a  pilgrim  and  performing  the 
legal  ablutions,  the  Hajji  visits  the  sacred  mosque 
and  kisses  the  Black  Stone.  He  then  runs  around  the 
Kaaba  seven  times  —  thrice  very  rapidly  and  four 
times  slowly  —  in  imitation  of  the  motions  of  the 
planets.  Next,  he  offers  a  prayer :  "  O  Allah,  Lord  of 
the  Ancient  House,  free  my  neck  from  hell-fire  and 
preserve  me  from  every  evil  deed ;  make  me  contented 
with  the  daily  food  Thou  givest  me,  and  bless  me  in  all 
Thou  hast  granted."  At  "  the  place  of  Abraham  "  he 
also  prays ;  he  drinks  water  from  the  sacred  well  of 
Zemzem  and  again  kisses  the  Black  Stone.  Then  the 
pilgrim  runs  between  the  hills  of  Safa  and  Marwa. 
He  visits  Mina  and  Arafat,  a  few  miles  from  Mecca, 
and  at  the  latter  place  listens  to  a  sermon.  On  his 
return  he  stops  at  Mina  and  stones  three  pillars  of 
masonry  known  as  the  "  Great  Devil,"  the  middle  pil- 
lar, and  the  "  first  one "  with  seven  small  pebbles. 


MOHAMMEDANISM  2$I 

Finally  there  is  the  sacrifice  of  a  sheep  or  other  animal 
as  the  climax  of  the  pilgrim's  task.  Snouck  Hur- 
gronje  and  Dozy  have  given  us  the  philosophical  origin 
of  these  strange  ceremonies  in  their  monographs.1 
The  whole  pilgrimage  is,  in  the  words  of  Kuenen, 
"  a  fragment  of  incomprehensible  heathenism  taken  up 
undigested  into  Islam."  And  as  regards  the  venera- 
tion for  the  Black  Stone,  there  is  a  tradition  that  the 
Caliph  Omar  remarked :  "  By  God,  I  know  that  thou 
art  only  a  stone  and  canst  grant  no  benefit  or  do  no 
harm.  And  had  I  not  known  that  the  Prophet  kissed 
thee  I  would  not  have  done  it." 

The  Mecca  pilgrimage  is  incumbent  on  every  free 
Moslem  who  is  of  age  and  has  sufficient  means  for 
the  journey.  Many  of  them,  unwilling  to  undergo  the 
hardships  of  the  journey,  engage  a  substitute,  and  thus 
purchase  the  merit  for  themselves.  Most  Moslems 
also  visit  the  tomb  of  Mohammed  at  Medina  and  claim 
the  prophet's  authority  for  this  added  merit.  The 
Shiah  Moslems  visit  Karbala  and  Meshad  All,  where 
their  martyr-saints  are  buried.  Pilgrimages  to  tombs 
of  local  saints  and  ancient  prophets,  to  "  foot-prints  " 
of  the  Apostle,  or  to  graves  of  his  companions  are  ex- 
ceedingly common.  But  none  of  these  pilgrimages 
equal  in  merit  that  to  the  House  of  God  in  Mecca.  In 
conclusion  it  is  necessary  to  state  that  the  two  sacred 
cities  of  Islam  are  hotbeds  of  every  form  of  immoral- 
ity and,  by  the  witness  of  Moslems  themselves,  sink- 
holes of  iniquity  and  dens  of  robbers. 

6.  Other  Practices  and  Privileges. —  In  addition  to 

1  Het  Mekkaansche  Feest,  by  Snouck  Hurgronje,  Leiden, 
1880.  De  Israeliten  te  Mekka  van  Davids  tijd  enz., —  Dozy, 
Haarlem,  1864. 


252  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

the  above  "  five  pillars  "  of  the  faith  a  word  is  neces- 
sary regarding  certain  other  Moslem  practices,  if  we 
are  to  complete  the  sketch  of  every-day  religion  and 
desire  to  see  what  effect  their  beliefs  have  on  social 
life  and  thought. 

(a)  Circumcision,  although  not  once  alluded  to  in 
the  Koran,  is  the  initiative  rite  among  all  Moslems,  and 
in  that  respect  it  corresponds  somewhat  to  baptism. 
Its  performance  is  attended  with  religious  festivities 
and  its  omission  is  equivalent  to  a  denial  of  the  faith. 
Its  observance  is  founded  upon  tradition,  i.  e.,  the  cus- 
tom   of    Mohammed.     The    abominable    practice    of 
female  circumcision  (mutilation)  is  common  in  many 
Moslem  lands  and  is  also  said  to  be  founded  on  the 
custom  of  Mohammed. 

(b)  Polygamy,     Divorce,     and     Slavery. —  These 
three  evils  are  so  closely  intertwined  with  the  Moham- 
medan religion, —  its  book  and  its  prophet, —  that  they 
can  never  be  wholly  abandoned  without  doing  violence 
to  the  teaching  of  the  Koran  and  the  example  of  Mo- 
hammed.    In    Moslem  books   of   theology,   jurispru- 
dence, and  ethics,  there  are  long  chapters  on  each  of 
these  subjects.     Nor  can  there  be  the  least  doubt  that 
polygamy  and  slavery  have  had  a  tremendous  power  in 
the  spread  and  grasp  of  Islam.     It  is  the  testimony  of 
history  that  the  slave-traders  of  Zanzibar  were  also  the 
missionaries  of  Islam  in  darkest  Africa;  and  the  last 
census  report  of  Bengal  states  that  the  increase  of  the 
Mohammedan  population  there  is  due,  not  to  conver- 
sions  from  Hinduism,  but  to  polygamy  and  concu- 
binage as  open  doors  into  a  higher  caste  for   sub- 
merged womanhood.     We  must  also  remember  that 
the  loose  moral  code  of  Islam  is  ever  an  attraction  to 


MOHAMMEDANISM  253 

the  unregenerate.  It  is  impossible  to  give  here,  even 
in  outline,  the  true  character,  extent,  and  effect  of  these 
three  "  religious  institutions "  of  Islam.  A  Moslem 
who  lives  up  to  his  privileges  and  who  follows  the  ex- 
ample of  "  the  saints"  in  his  calendar  can  have  four 
wives  and  any  number  of  slave-concubines ;  can  di- 
vorce at  his  pleasure;  he  can  remarry  his  divorced 
wives  by  a  special  arrangement ;  and,  in  addition  to  all 
this,  if  he  belong  to  the  Shiah  sect  he  can  contract 
marriages  for  fun  (Metaa')  which  are  temporary. 
Arabia,  the  cradle  of  Islam,  is  still  the  center  of  the 
slave-trade,  and  according  to  the  Koran  slavery  and 
the  slave-trade  are  divine  institutions.  Some  Moslem 
apologists  of  the  present  day  contend  that  Mohammed 
looked  upon  the  custom  as  temporary  in  its  nature; 
but  slavery  is  so  interwoven  with  the  laws  of  mar- 
riage, of  sale,  of  inheritance,  and  with  the  whole  so- 
cial fabric,  that  its  abolition  strikes  at  the  foundations 
of  their  legal  code.  Whenever  and  wherever  Moslem 
rulers  have  agreed  to  the  abolition  or  suppression  of 
the  slave-trade,  they  have  acted  contrary  to  the  priv- 
ileges of  their  religion  in  consenting  to  obey  the  laws 
of  humanity.1 

(c)  Jihad. —  It  is  unaccountable  why  this  greatest 
force  in  Islam,  religious  warfare,  or  Jihad,  is  not  men- 
tioned as  a  pillar  of  religion.  A  religious  war  against 
infidels  is  a  duty  plainly  taught  by  the  Koran  and  by 
tradition.  Some  apologists  for  Islam  —  T.  W. 
Arnold,  Saiyad  Amir  AH,  and  others  —  attempt  to 
avoid  the  offense  of  the  sword  by  interpreting  these 
passages  in  a  semi-spiritual  way,  and  they  even  try  to 

1  See  Missionary  Review  of  the  World  for  June,  1899. 


254  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

make  Jihad  mean  a  sort  of  Christian  Endeavor  Society 
for  propagating  Islam.  To  this  Dods  replies :  "  The 
man  must  shut  his  eyes  to  the  broadest  and  most  con- 
spicuous facts  of  the  history  of  Islam  who  denies  that 
the  sword  has  been  the  great  means  of  propagating 
this  religion.  Until  Mohammed  appealed  to  the 
sword,  his  faith  made  very  little  way."  The  history 
of  the  Wahhabis  in  the  nineteenth  century,  the  Arme- 
nian massacres,  the  Mahdls  of  the  Sudan  and  of 
Somali-land,  and  the  almost  universal  hope  that  Islam 
will  again  use  the  power  of  the  sword  —  all  these  are 
proofs  that  Jihad  is  one  of  the  religious  forces  of 
Mohammedanism  which  Christendom  cannot  afford  to 
ignore.  The  sword  is  in  its  sheath,  but  the  giant  still 
wears  it  at  his  side  and  it  has  never  been  rusty. 

IV.  Strength  of  Islam. — Some  points  of  strength 
are  self-evident  from  the  above  outline.  Others  are 
worthy  of  special  attention.  Among  the  elements  of 
real  strength  in  Islam  are  the  following  truths  and 
methods.  Violence  and  falsehood  are  never  elements 
of  strength  in  any  religion,  although  they  may  account 
for  its  rapid  spread  and  apparent  success. 

I.  Islam  is  a  Religion  Without  Caste. —  It  extin- 
guishes all  distinctions  founded  upon  race,  color,  or 
nationality.  All  believers  belong  to  the  highest  caste 
and  all  unbelievers  are  out-castes.  The  Hindu  who 
turns  Mohammedan  loses  his  caste  but  becomes  a  mem- 
ber of  the  great  brotherhood  of  Islam.  Slaves  have 
held  thrones  and  founded  dynasties.  The  first  one 
who  led  the  call  to  prayer  was  Bilal,  a  negro  of  Me- 
dina. There  is  no  sacerdotal  class  of  ministers  in 
Islam.  Each  man  offers  prayer  to  God  himself;  the 


MOHAMMEDANISM  255 

leader  of  prayers  in  a  mosque  has  no  spiritual  author- 
ity.1 

2.  Its  Creed  Contains  Much  Fundamental  Truth. — 
This  is  very  strikingly  exhibited,  if  we  write  out  the 
Apostles  Creed,  the  universal  symbol  of  Christendom, 
in  such  form  as  a  Moslem  would  accept :     "  I  believe 
in    God     .     .     .     Almighty,    maker    of    heaven    and 
earth,  and  in  Jesus  Christ     .     .     .     conceived  [mirac- 
ulously] and  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary.     .     .     .     He 
ascended  into  heaven,     .     .     .     and  from  thence  He 
shall   come.     ...     I    believe     ...     in   the   for- 
giveness of  sins,  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  the 
life  everlasting."     Although  the  heart  of  the  creed  is 
omitted,  namely  the  Trinity  and  the  Atonement,  how 
much   remains   that   is   common   to   Christianity   and 
Islam.     What  a  contrast  to  heathen  religions  and  even 
to  Judaism. 

3.  Intolerance  of  Error. —  This  is  also  an  element  of 
strength.     It  is  the  Puritan  spirit  of  Islam;  and  al- 
though iconoclastic  and  often  violent  to  the  point  of 
fanaticism,  it  is  a  praiseworthy  trait  in  any  religion. 
Islam  has  in  it  the  stuff  that  martyrs  and  reformers 
are  made  of ;  its  professors  are  "  valiant  for  the  truth  " 
and  have  the  spinal  column  of  conviction. 

4.  Desire  for  Conquest. —  Islam  is  one  of  the  few 
missionary  religions  of  the  world.     It  began  with  the 
Saracen  conquest  and  continued  for  thirteen  centuries 
until  the  Wahhabi  revival  and  the  Pan-Islamic  move- 
ment of  to-day.     In  the  words  of  the  Koran  the  Mos- 
lem must  "  fight  against  infidels  till  strife  be  at  an 

1  See    Dr.    Blyden's   "  Christianity,    Islam,    and   the    Negro 
Race,"  second  edition,  London,  1888. 


256  RELIGIONS  OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

end  and  the  religion  be  all  of  God."  And  Mohammed 
said,  "  He  who  dies  and  has  not  fought  for  the  religion 
of  Islam,  nor  has  even  said  in  his  heart,  '  Would  to 
God  I  were  a  champion  that  could  die  in  the  road  of 
God,'  is  even  as  a  hypocrite."  And  again,  still  more 
forcibly,  "  The  fire  of  hell  shall  not  touch  the  legs  of 
him  who  is  covered  with  the  dust  of  battle  in  the  road 
of  God."  In  spite  of  cruelty,  bloodshed,  dissension, 
and  deceit  the  story  of  the  Moslem  missionary  conquest 
as  given  by  Haines  and  Arnold *  is  full  of  hero- 
ism and  inspiration.  If  so  much  was  done  in  the 
name  of  Mohammed  what  should  we  not  dare  do  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ! 

5.  Respect  for  the  Authority  of  God's  Word. —  The 
Koran  is  not  the  word  of  God,  but  the  Moslem  believes 
it  is,  and  believes  it  with  his  whole  heart.  While 
their  belief  is  unreasoning  and  though  the  Koran  is 
anything  but  divine,  it  is  no  small  matter  to  realize  that 
in  these  days  of  universal  doubt  and  irreverence,  there 
are  millions  of  Moslems  who  believe  that  God  has 
spoken  to  man  by  the  prophets;  that  His  word  con- 
tains neither  errors  nor  untruths;  and  that  the  end 
of  all  disputation  is  a  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord."  Con- 
verts from  Islam  love  the  Bible  with  a  passionate  love 
and  respect  its  authority. 

V.    The  Weakness  of  Islam. — The  great  weakness 

is  in  its  foundations.     It  is  rotten  at  the  core.     False 

/religions  may  wear  the  garment  of  health  and  gird  the 

sword  of  strength,  but  they  are  one  and  all  dying  of 

heart-disease,  and  their  end  is  only  a  matter  of  time. 

1  Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion  —  C.  R.  Haines,  S.  P.  C.  K., 
London,  1889. 
The  Preaching  of  Islam  —  T.  W.  Arnold,  London,  1896, 


MOHAMMEDANISM  257 

In  addition  to  those  already  alluded  to,  the  following 
are  weak  points  in  Islam. 

1.  Its  Distorted  Theology. —  Islam  is  a  retrogression 
and  a  caricature,  as  regards  its  idea  of  God,  when  com- 
pared with  Judaism  or  Christianity.     James  Freeman 
Clarke    acknowledges    this   in   the    following   words'. 
"  Mohammedanism  is  a  relapse ;  the  worst  form  of 
monotheism  and  a  retarding  element  in  civilization. 
Mohammed  teaches  a  God  above  us;  Moses  teaches 
a  God  above  us  and  yet  with  us ;  Jesus  teaches  God 
above  us,  God  with  us,  and  God  in  us."  x 

2.  It  1ms  No  Incarnation  and  No  Atonement    for 
Sin. —  This  fatal  omission  in  Mohammed's  idea  of  re- 
ligion is  contrary  to  universal  religion.     The  idea  of 
an  incarnation  and  an  offering  for  sin  is  prominent  in 
many  heathen  religions,  and  traces  of  it  appear  in  all 
other  religions,  save  in  Islam.     The  cross  of  Christ  is 
the  missing  link  in  the  Moslem's  creed.     The  portrait 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  given  in  the  Koran  and  in  tradition 
is  a  caricature.     It  is  folly  to  reckon  it  one  of  the  good 
points  of  Islam  that  the  Koran  speaks  highly  of  Jesus 
our  Savior.     No;  Islam  is  of  all  religions  most  false 
in  this  respect  that  it  betrays  the  Son  of  Man  with  a 
kiss.      Recent  study  of  this  subject  has  led  me  to  the 
conviction  that  what  Mohammed  left  unsaid  regarding 
Jesus  Christ  was  not  due  to  ignorance  on  his  part,  but 
to  a  delicate  suppression  of  the  truth. 

3.  Its  Low  Ideal  of  Character. —  "  By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them."     And,  as  we  have  seen  that  among 
Moslems  the  ideal  of  character  and  the  model  of  con- 

'"Ten   Great  Religions,"  vol.   I.,  pages  481-488;   also  vol. 
II.,  page  380. 


258  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

duct  is  Mohammed,  we  need  not  be  surprised  that 
the  ethical  standard  is  so  low.  Raymund  Lull,  the 
first  missionary  to  Moslems,  used  to  show  in  his  bold 
preaching  that  Mohammed  had  none  of  the  seven  car- 
dinal virtues  and  was  guilty  of  the  seven  deadly  sins. 
It  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  pride,  lust,  envy, 
and  anger  were  prominent  traits  in  the  prophet's  char- 
acter. To  read  the  pages  of  Muir  or  Weil  or  Spreng- 
er  is  convincing.  But  to  take  another  example,  what 
did  Mohammed  teach  regarding  truthfulness?  There 
are  two  authenticated  sayings  of  his  given  in  the  tra- 
ditions on  the  subject  of  lying :  "  When  a  servant  of 
God  tells  a  lie,  his  guardian  angels  move  away  to  the 
distance  of  a  mile  because  of  the  badness  of  its  smell." 
"  Verily  a  lie  is  allowable  in  three  cases, —  to  women, 
to  reconcile  friends,  and  in  war."  "  The  dastardly 
assassination,"  says  Muir,  "  of  his  political  and  relig- 
ious opponents,  countenanced  and  frequently  directed 
as  they  were  in  all  their  cruel  and  perfidious  details 
by  Mohammed  himself,  leaves  a  dark  and  indelible  blot 
upon  his  character."  With  such  a  prophet  it  is  no 
wonder  that  among  his  followers  and  imitators  "  truth- 
telling  is  one  of  the  lost  arts,"  and  that  perjury  is  too 
common  to  be  noticed.  Since  Mohammed  gathered 
ideas  and  stories  from  the  Jews  of  Medina  and  palmed 
them  off  as  a  new  revelation  from  God,  it  is  no  won- 
der that  Arabian  literature  teems  with  all  sorts  of 
plagiarisms,  or  that  one  of  the  early  authorities  of 
Islam  laid  down  the  canon  that  it  is  justifiable  to  lie 
in  praise  of  the  prophet. 

4.  Its  Deep-rooted  Sensuality. —  On  this  topic  it  is 
not  possible  to  speak  plainly  nor  to  be  wholly  silent. 
One  must  live  among  Moslems  to  feel  the  blasting  in- 


MOHAMMEDANISM 

fluence  of  this  side  of  Islam  on  its  followers.  Moslems 
have  changed  the  truth  of  God  in  their  consciences  for 
a  lie,  and  for  this  cause  they  are  given  up  to  vile  af- 
fections from  the  day  their  prophet  married  Zainab 
until  now.  Many  of  the  masses  are  past  feeling  and 
"  have  given  themselves  over  unto  lasciviousness  to 
work  all  uncleanness  with  greediness."  In  conse- 
quence the  majority  seem  to  have  "  consciences  seared 
with  a  hot  iron  "  and  minds  too  full  of  the  sensual  to 
admit  of  a  spiritual  conception.  There  is  no  mental 
soporific  like  the  Koran,  and  there  is  nothing  so  well 
designed  to  hush  all  heart-questioning  as  a  religion 
that  denies  the  need  of  an  atonement.  There  is  no 
spiritual  aspiration  even  in  the  Moslem  who  longs  for 
heaven,  for  he  can  only  picture  the  "  houris  "  of  para- 
dise and  the  goblets  of  wine  and  rivers  of  milk.  "  To 
be  carnally-minded  is  death."  Islam  proves  it  by  the 
effect  of  its  teaching  on  the  lives  of  Moslems.  See 
Hauri  for  proof  of  this  statement. 

VI.  Best  Methods  of  Reaching  Moslems. — 
"  Why  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  with  you 
that  God  should  raise  the  dead?"  The  Mohamme- 
dan missionary  problem  is  a  challenge  to  our  faith,  and 
there  are  opinions  current  to  the  effect  that  missions  to 
Moslems  are  fruitless,  if  not  hopeless.  Back  of  all 
methods  and  means,  therefore,  we  need  faith.  Such 
faith  as  dwelt  in  the  pioneer  heroes  who  led  the  attack 
against  this  citadel  of  error  —  Lull,  Petrus  Vener- 
abilis,  Henry  Martyn,  Pfander,  and  Keith-Falconer. 
Such  is  the  faith  which  a  lady  missionary  in  Algiers, 
Miss  I.  Lilias  Trotter,  describes :  "  Take  it  at  its  very 
worst.  They  are  dead  lands  and  dead  souls,  blind  and 
cold  and  stiff  in  death  as  no  heathen  are ;  but  we  who 


260  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

love  them  see  the  possibilities  of  sacrifice,  of  endurance, 
of  enthusiasm,  of  life  not  yet  effaced.  Does  not  the 
Son  of  God  who  died  for  them  see  these  possibilities 
too?  Do  you  think  He  says  of  the  Mohammedan, 
'  There  is  no  hope  or  help  for  him  in  his  God  '  ?  Has 
He  not  a  challenge  top  for  your  faith,  the  challenge 
that  rolled  away  the  stone  from  the  grave  where  "Laza- 
rus lay  ?  '  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if  thou  wouldest 
believe,  thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God?  Then 
took  they  away  the  stone/  "  To  raise  the  spiritually 
dead  is  the  work  of  the  Son  of  God.  But  we  are  to 
believe  and  take  away  the  stone  from  the  place  where 
the  dead  lay. 

i.  By  Distribution  of  God's  Word. —  This  is  the 
method  par  excellence  in  all  Moslem  lands.  It  is  near- 
ly everywhere  permitted.  It  is  simple  and  unoff ensive. 
It  strikes  at  the  root  of  Islam  by  placing  the  Bible  over 
against  the  Koran,  and  the  sublime  story  of  the  life  of 
Jesus,  the  Christ,  over  against  the  artificial  halo  that 
surrounds  the  biographies  of  Mohammed.  In  this 
method  of  work  we  have  immense  advantage  over 
Islam.  Translations  of  the  Koran  into  other  Moslem 
languages  exist  and  are  tolerated,  but  they  are  rare,  ex- 
pensive, and  are  necessarily  far  inferior  to  the  original 
in  style  and  force.  But  the  Bible  has  been  translated 
into  nearly  every  Mohammedan  tongue,  and  is  the 
cheapest  and  best  printed  book  in  the  Orient;  nor  has 
it  lost  its  beauty  and  power  in  any  translation.  The 
Arabic  Koran  is  a  sealed  book  to  all  non-Arabic-speak- 
ing races,  but  the  Bible  speaks  the  language  of  the 
cradle  and  the  marketplace.  Every  missionary  to  Mos- 
lems should  be  a  colporteur,  and  every  colporteur  in 
Moslem  lands  should  be  a  missionary.  Distribution 


MOHAMMEDANISM  26l 

should  be  by  sale,  not,  generally,  by  free  gift.  Among 
Moslems  there  are  portions  of  Scripture  which  are 
especially  acceptable  and  therefore  effective,  viz.,  Gene- 
sis, Matthew's  Gospel,  John's  Gospel,  and  the  Psalms. 

2.  By  Medical  Missions. —  These  break  up  the  fal- 
low ground  of  prejudice  and  fanaticism,  are  possible 
nearly  everywhere,  and,  when  conducted  with  evange- 
listic zeal,  have  proved  fruitful  in  results  as  has  no 
other  agency.     The  Punjab,   Persia,   and  Egypt   are 
examples.     Hospitals  and  dispensary  clinics  reach  the 
crowded  centers,  but  medical  missionary  touring  is  es- 
sential for  village  work  and  in  sparsely  settled  coun- 
tries, like  Arabia  and  Persia. 

3.  Educational     Institutions. — "  To     make     wrong 
right,  let  in  the  light."     From  the  kindergarten  on  the 
veranda  of  a  mission  house  to  the  well  equipped  uni- 
versity of  India,  all  educational  forces,  great  and  small, 
help  to  undermine  that  stupendous  rock  of  ignorance 
and  superstition,  Moslem  tradition.     But  the  work  of 
education  is  only  preparatory.     The  New  Islam  of  In- 
dia and  Egypt   is  the  revolt  of  the   educated  mind 
against  traditionalism.     We  must  reach  the  heart  and 
conscience,  or  fail. 

4.  By  Preaching. — There  are  many  ways  and  means 
of  doing  this  that  are  more  suitable  to  Moslems  and  the 
Orient  than  the  pulpit  or  the  platform  with  a  large, 
quiet  audience.     Preaching  in   this   larger   sense   in- 
cludes talking  with  men  by  the  wayside,  or  in  the  cof- 
fee-shop, with  a  group  of  sailors  on  deck,  or  to  the 
Mohammedan  postman  who  brings  your  letters.     The 
glorious  liberty  of  bazaar  preaching  is  not  found  in 
many  Moslem  lands,  nor  do  Moslems  generally  come 
to  Christian  churches;  but  that  does  not  mean  that 


262  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

there  is  no  call  for  preachers  and  preaching.  It  is  well 
to  remember  the  resolution  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  passed  as  early  as  1888:  "  While  the  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  missionary  work  in  lands  under  Mo- 
hammedan rule  may  well  appear  to  the  eye  of  sense 
most  formidable,  this  meeting  is  firmly  persuaded,  that, 
so  long  as  the  door  of  access  to  individual  Mohamme- 
dans is  open,  so  long  it  is  the  clear  and  bounden  duty 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  make  use  of  its  opportunities 
for  delivering  the  Gospel  message  to  them,  in  full  ex- 
pectation that  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will,  in 
God's  good  time,  have  a  signal  manifestation  in  the 
triumph  of  Christiantiy  in  those  lands."  There  is  no 
question  about  the  door  of  access  to  individual  Mos- 
lems being  open.  It  is  wide  open  everywhere.  What 
single  lady  missionaries  have  done  and  are  doing  in 
North  Africa  and  Persia  among  fanatical  villagers 
proves  that  there  is  a  loud  call  for  women  to  preach 
to  women  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

Islam  itself  was  not  spread  solely  by  the  sword  but 
by  preachers.  Study  their  zeal  and  methods ;  there  is 
something  for  us  to  learn  from  them.  For  illustrations 
of  this,  see  Arnold's  "  Preaching  of  Islam."  Preach- 
ing must  have  for  its  subject  the  essentials  of  Christi- 
anity. Preach  Christ  crucified.  Show  the  reasonable- 
ness of  the  mysteries  of  revelation,  of  the  Incarnation, 
and  of  the  Holy  Trinity ;  but  never  try  to  explain  them 
by  philosophy  or  argument.  The  problem  is  to  reach, 
not  the  intellect,  but  the  conscience,  to  arouse  it  from 
stupor,  to  show  the  grandeur  of  moral  courage  to  the 
man  who  is  intellectually  convinced  of  the  truth.  In 
trying  to  convince  the  will  —  that  citadel  of  man-soul 
• — we  must  follow  the  line  of  least  resistance.  The 


MOHAMMEDANISM  263 

history  of  Moslem  theology,  e.  g.,  shows  that  hetero- 
doxy has  nearly  always  been  connected  with  a  desire 
for  a  mediator.  This  natural  longing  for  an  interces- 
sor and  an  atonement  is  fully  supplied  in  Christ,  the 
Savior.  Again,  when  Moslems  object  to  the  eternal 
pre-existence  of  the  Word  of  God  as  a  form  of  poly- 
theism, point  out  that  orthodox  Islam  holds  the  Koran 
to  be  eternal  and  uncreated  simply  because  it  is  the 
word  of  God.  Preach  to  the  Moslem,  not  as  a  Mos- 
lem, but  as  to  a  man  —  as  a  sinner  in  need  of  a  Savior. 
There  is  no  use  in  arousing  the  picket-guard  by  firing 
blank  cartridges  before  the  attack. 

5.  The  Place  of  Controversy. —  That  it  has  a  place 
and  an  important  one,  in  reaching  Moslems  is  evident 
from   the   whole   history   of    Mohammedan   missions. 
But  the  subject  is  a  large  one  and,  to  the  beginner,  per- 
plexing, because  it  is  hard  to  look  at  things  from  the 
Moslem  viewpoint.     Read  Dr.  Tisdall's  "  Manual  of 
the  Leading  Mohammedan  Objections  to  Christianity," 
which  is  the  best  summary  of  arguments  and  objec- 
tions.    Prayerful  contact  with  the  Moslem  mind  will 
teach  one  how  to  use  this  keen  weapon  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage in  every  special  case. 

6.  Dealing  with  Inquirers. —  It  is  helpful  to  remem- 
ber three  facts  and  three  texts  which  apply  to  such 
cases. 

(a)  There  are  many  secret  believers  in  all  Moslem 
lands   of   whom   the   missionary    will    perhaps   never 
know.     Pray  for  them.     "  Yet  I  have  left  me  seven 
thousand  in  Israel,  all  the  knees  which  have  not  bowed 
unto  Baal,  and  every  mouth  which  hath  not  kissed 
him." 

(b)  It  is  exceedingly  difficult,  even  in  countries  un- 


264.  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

der  Christian  rulers,  for  a  Moslem  to  break  away  from 
Islam  and  confess  Christ.  Be  tender  and  patient. 
"  A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break,  and  smoking  flax 
shall  he  not  quench,  till  he  send  forth  judgment  unto 
victory." 

(c)  In  every  possible  way  encourage  public  confes- 
sion of  Christ.  Living  apostles  who,  freed  from  the 
yoke  of  Islam,  preach  the  gospel  with  all  boldness  and 
are  ready  to  die  for  Christ,  such  and  such  alone,  will 
vanquish  the  religion  of  Islam.  "  Whosoever  there- 
fore shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I  confess 
also  before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  But  who- 
soever shall  deny  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny 
before  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 

For  a  fuller  and  better  account  of  the  points  given 
in  summary  in  this  chapter,  the  missionary  candidate 
should  study,  not  read,  the  books  on  Mohammedanism 
given  in  the  Bibliography. 


X.  ROMAN  CATHOLICISM 

BY  GEORGE  B.  WINTON,  D.D. 

Editor  of  the  Nashville  Christian  Advocate;  formerly  Mis- 
sionary among  the  Mexicans 


265 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BARROWS,  J.  H.,  editor.  The  World's  Parliament  of  Religions 
(1893).  Pp.  485-493;  also  see  index  for  further  papers. 
Romanist's  viewpoint. 

BEACH,  H.  P.,  and  others.  Protestant  Missions  in  South 
America  (1900).  Especially  ch.  X. 

BETTANY,  G.  T.  The  World's  Religions  (1891).  Pp.  813- 
864. 

*BROWN,  H.  W.    Latin  America  (1901).    Lects.  II,  IV,  V. 

BUTLER,  W.  Mexico  in  Transition  (1892).  Especially  chs. 
II,  III,  X. 

Encyclopaedias,  especially  "  The  Encyclopedia  of  Missions," 
under  "  Roman  Catholic  Church,"  "  Roman  Catholic  Mis- 
sions." 

*GIBBONS,  J.  The  Faith  of  Our  Fathers  ...  a  Vindica- 
tion of  the  Church  (1879). 

Great  Religions  of  the  World  (1901).  Cardinal  Gibbons' 
"  Catholic  Christianity." 

MANNING,  H.  E.     Internal  Mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (1875). 

NEWMAN,  J.  H.    Essay  on  Development  of  Doctrine. 

TUCKER,  H.  C.  The  Bible  in  Brazil  (1902).  Especially  chs. 
V,  VI. 

WISEMAN,  N.  P.  The  Doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church 
(1836). 

*  Indicates  works  of  special  value  or  authority. 


266 


X, 
ROMAN  CATHOLICISM 

I.  Catholicism's  Sacerdotal  System. — A  study  of 
Roman  Catholicism,  which  dwells  on  the  defects  of 
that  system,  may  seem  to  some  out  of  line  with  the 
Christian  tolerance  and  good  will  of  our  day.  But  it 
is  the  defective  and  distorted  Christianity  taught  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  which  has  made  Catholic 
countries  legitimate  fields  for  evangelical  missions.  It 
is  to  the  interest  of  truth  and  of  a  true  presentation  of 
Christanity  that  those  defects  and  their  source  be 
pointed  out.  Christian  tolerance  should  never  reach 
the  point  of  tolerating  error,  in  particular  error  which 
strikes  at  the  root  of  the  Gospel  and  which,  if  allowed, 
will  cheat  men  of  the  Gospel's  benefit. 

The  failure  of  Roman  Catholicism  may  be  traced 
back  to  fundamental  errors  in  its  doctrine.  Kindlier 
relations  between  Catholics  and  Protestants  existing 
to-day,  especially  in  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  do  not  mean  that  Protestantism  has  given  up 
any  of  her  hostility  to  error.  Both  doctrinally  and 
practically,  where  vital  matters  are  concerned,  no 
yielding  is  possible.  The  radical  doctrinal  defect  of 
Catholicism  is  its  teaching  that  Christianity  is  a  sacer- 
dotal system,  and  that  therefore  its  ministers  are 
priests.  There  is  scarcely  a  pretension  of  the  papacy 
or  a  stupid  superstition  of  the  most  ignorant  Romanist 

267 


268  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

which  cannot  be  traced  back  to  this  false  doctrine,  and 
which  does  not  exhibit  its  corrupting  touch  upon  the 
evil  nature  of  humanity. 

1.  Its  Old  Testament  Origin. —  It  must  be  allowed 
that,  humanly  speaking,  this  error  is  neither  a  strange 
nor  a  surprising  one.     The  old  dispensation,  providen- 
tially inaugurated  among  God's  chosen  people,  was  a 
priestly  dispensation.     Its  terminology  and  many  of 
its  concepts  passed  into  the  revelation  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament.    That  many  readers  of  that  book  should  re- 
main unaware  of  the  vital  transition  of  which  it  is  the 
monument   is   not   to   be  wondered   at.     That   many 
should  even  carry  the  concepts  of  this  outwardly  sym- 
bolized   and    elaborately    ritualistic    religion    of    the 
Hebrews  over  into  that  dispensation  which  God  cut 
clear  of  all  this  trammeling  ceremony,  in  order  to  fit  it 
for  both  Jew  and  Greek,  is  but  an  instance  of  the  un- 
intelligent way  in  which  men  in  every  age  deal  with 
both  Scriptures  and  providence. 

2.  Sacerdotalism     Widely    Diffused. —  Indeed,    the 
sacerdotal  conception  of  religion  is  not  limited  to  the 
horizon  of  the  Old  Testament.     Sacrifices  and  inter- 
ceding priests  are  the  stock  elements  in  a  hundred 
other  religious  systems, —  systems  often  whose  origin 
is  obscured  by  the  mists  of  a  distant  past.     The  adap- 
tation of  this  mode  of  worship  to  human  needs  must 
have  made  it  a  well-nigh  essential  element  in  the  train- 
ing of  humanity  for  the  priesthood  and  redemptive 
ministry  of  Jesus  Christ.     Where  the  Gospel  is  not  yet 
known,  some  sort  of  a  propitiatory  system  may,  even 
now,  be  better  than  no  religion.     For,  unless  it  is  pure 
fetichism  or  devil-worship,  it  brings  home  to  man  two 


ROMAN   CATHOLICISM  ^69 

fundamental   moral    conceptions,    his   own    sinfulness 
and  the  displeasure  therewith  of  his  Deity. 

3.  The   Gospel  and  Sacerdotalism. —  Yet  it  would 
seem  that  a  knowledge  of  the  Gospel,  of  the  finality  of 
the  work  of  Christ,  ought  to  make  clear  the  absurdity 
of     any     additional     sacrificial     scheme.     Paul     was 
shocked  that  the  Galatians  were  unable  to  see  the  folly 
of  becoming  ceremonial  Jews  after  they  had  been  made 
citizens  of  God's  kingdom.     It  seemed  to  him  that 
even  a  child  ought  to  see  that  this  would  be  to  cheapen, 
even  to  abandon,  the  Gospel  itself.     "  If  ye  be  circum- 
cised, Christ  shall  profit  you  nothing." 

4.  A  Curse  in  the  Christian  Dispensation. —  And,  as 
though  by  some  retributive  providence,   this   substi- 
tuting of  a  ceremonial  law  for  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  once  that  Gospel  is  known,  instead  of  prov- 
ing a  fair  and  fairly  edifying  form  of  religion,  as  such 
systems  have  proved  in  other  epochs  of  human  history, 
has  been  a  devastating  curse.     Is  this  because  God 
thus  vindicates  his  Son,  exacting  a  price  from  those 
who   while   seeming   to   worship   really    scorn   him? 
Certainly  it  can  be  no  light  thing  to  slight  Christ,  to 
set  up  a  cheap  ceremonialism  in  the  stead  of  that  vital 
work  of  grace  that  he  is  ready  to  do  in  men's  hearts. 
But  God  is  not  usually  concerned   with  paying  off 
slights,  with  avenging  Himself  on  scorners.     Such  a 
conception  of  Him  belongs  to  a  childlike  stage  of  hu- 
man understanding. 

5.  "  Christian    Sacerdotalism "    a    Contradiction. — 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  do  not  have  to  penetrate  to  the 
secrets  of  divine  motives  and  providence  to  find  an  ex- 
planation  of   the    failure   of   Christian    sacerdotalism. 
We  need  only  to  know  men.     To  begin  with,  these 


RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

two  words  are  mutually  exclusive.  They  are  not  far 
from  self-contradictory.  If  men  persist  in  elaborating 
a  scheme  of  priestly  sacrifices  and  intervention  under 
the  name  of  Christianity,  without  perceiving  the  illogi- 
cal and  absurd  quality  of  their  act,  the  impossibility  of 
such  a  scheme  will  nevertheless  emerge  in  practice. 
Nothing  is  more  hopeless  than  the  attempt  to  put  a 
naturally  absurd  system  into  use.  The  mind  of  every 
new  adept  is  in  its  turn  shocked  and  outraged  by  the 
contradiction.  Was  there  ever  a  Catholic,  for  ex- 
ample, who,  if  he  knew  anything  at  all  of  Christ,  did 
not  ask  himself,  "  How  is  it  that  the  priest  makes 
sacrifices  for  our  sins  when  Christ  has  already  done 
so  ?  "  There  is  no  answer. 

6.  The  System  Stultifying. —  Again,  in  addition  to 
this  flying  in  the  face  of  unsophisticated  reason,  the 
promoters  of  a  sacerdotal  scheme  of  Christianity  are 
under  the  necessity  of  inventing  the  scheme.     They 
must  not  only  persuade  themselves  against  reason  that 
it  is  necessary,  but  that,  when  once  they  have  in- 
vented it,  it  is  efficacious,  even  divine.     By  the  time  a 
man  has  deceived  his  own  instinctive  good  judgment  in 
this  way  once  or  twice,  he  is  ready  for  anything.     He 
will  be  able  to  affirm  that  black  is  white,  that  evil  is 
good,  and  may  set  himself  to  give  ingenious  reasons  in 
proof  of  it. 

7.  Conclusion. —  In  these  considerations,   it   seems 
to  me,  is  to  be  sought  the  reason  that  while  sacerdotal- 
ism may  be  in  general  a  very  good  form  of  religion, — 
was  indeed  once  divinely  ordained, —  yet  as  an  inter- 
pretation of  Christianity  it  is  evil  and  corrupting  and 
that  continually.     Its  adepts  must  be  ever  persuading 
themselves  and  others  against  their  own  better  judg- 


ROMAN   CATHOLICISM  2/1 

ment.  Whereas  there  is  no  place  in  the  Christian  con- 
ception of  salvation  for  a  hierarchy  of  priests  with 
their  sacrificial  functions,  they  are  under  the  neces- 
sity of  creating  such  a  place.  Whereas  Christ  offered 
Himself  once  for  all,  they  interpose  the  Mass  between 
sinners  and  God. 

II.  Effects  of  Sacerdotalism  Upon  Priesthood. — 
It  is  a  simple  matter  to  show  that  the  destructive  in- 
fection of  this  one  false  conception  has  worked  up- 
ward among  the  priests  and  downward  among  the 
people  till  the  trail  of  it  is  over  all  Romanism.  No 
Christian  can  afford  to  approve  a  system  which 
derogates  from  Christ  his  honor  of  having  "  made  by 
the  oblation  of  himself  once  offered,  a  full,  perfect, 
and  sufficient  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world."  Any  mere  man,  who  assumes  now  to  sup- 
plement that  work  of  redemption  is,  whether  con- 
scious of  it  or  not,  a  presumptuous  intermeddler 
between  God  and  his  wayward  children. 

i.  Grants  Undite  Spiritual  Power. —  First  of  all, 
let  us  see  what  are  the  evil  effects  of  the  priestly 
theory  on  the  priests  themselves.  The  first  of  these 
is  in  that  it  confers  upon  them  too  much  power. 
That  is  an  insidious  and  intoxicating  draught.  Men 
drink  of  it  at  their  peril.  The  ramifications  of  this 
evil  among  the  Catholic  hierarchy  are  interminable.  It 
has  led  to  the  slow  elaboration  of  the  hierarchy  itself 
as  a  graduated  system  of  ecclesiastical  dignities,  a 
system  which  has  now  become  highly  artificial  and 
superfluous.  There  is  as  little  spiritual  ground  for 
the  pope  as  vicegerent  of  Christ,  and  supreme  over 
priest,  bishop,  and  archbishop,  as  there  is  for  the 
priest  in  his  self-ordained  function  of  intermediary 


272  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

between  God  and  man  and  final  arbiter  of  the 
spiritual  destiny  of  his  flock.  The  misinterpretation 
of  the  texts  concerning  Peter, —  with  the  wholly 
gratuitous  assumption  that  the  bishop  of  Rome  suc- 
ceeded to  Peter's  special  prerogatives, —  and  concern- 
ing binding  and  loosing,  has  not  merely  been  a  curse 
to  the  thousands  of  men  and  women  who  have  lived 
all  their  lives  in  bondage  to  the  whim  of  priests,  be- 
lieving them  able  to  save  or  destroy,  but  has  cursed 
even  worse,  if  possible,  the  priests  themselves.  Hav- 
ing juggled  with  their  own  consciences  in  order  to  ac- 
cept as  scriptural  and  right  their  position  as  media- 
torial sacrificers  authorized  to  forgive  the  sins  of  men, 
they  have  naturally  been  unable  to  think  clearly  con- 
cerning their  own  sins.  They  have  invested  them- 
selves with  a  peculiar,  official  sanctity,  often  making 
this  square  with  actual  impurity  of  life  by  the  fallacy 
that  the  man  and  the  priest  are  not  the  same.  A 
priest  may  sin  as  a  man,  but  as  a  priest  he  is  always 
holy. 

2.  Unwarranted  Secular  Influence. —  There   is   no 
place  at  which  to  check  this  kind  of  jugglery.     It 
serves,   for  example,  to   justify  the  transfer  of  the 
authority  of  the  priest  from  the  purely  spiritual  direc- 
tion of  his  flock  to  their  domestic  and  social  concerns. 
The  priest  who  is  able  to  mold  his  people  to  his  mind 
can  easily  persuade  himself  that  he  is  doing  no  wrong 
in  becoming  the  actual  dictator  in  matters  financial, 
political,  and  domestic,  as  well  as  in  affairs  spiritual, 
of   the   congregation   over   which  he   is   placed.     To 
foretell  disaster  to  the  morals  of  a  mere  man  under 
pressure  like  this,  needs  no  prophet. 

3.  Evils  of  Celibacy.—  But  by  a  sort  of  fatuous  in- 


ROMAN    CATHOLICISM  273 

genuity  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  piled  this 
Pelion  of  opportunity  upon  an  Ossa  of  temptation. 
After  having  persuaded  a  man  that  being  a  holy  priest 
he  can  really  do  no  wrong,  and  after  putting  into  his 
hands,  like  clay  for  the  potter,  the  wills  and  money 
and  virtue  of  his  flock,  the  Church  places  this  same 
priest  under  the  artificial  restraints  of  celibacy  and 
poverty.  To  the  clamor  of  his  animal  passions  and 
of  his  human  concupiscence  he  now  applies  the  spe- 
cious reasoning  which  he  has  already  learned,  namely, 
that  so  long  as  he  is  a  holy  priest  his  conduct  as  a 
man  does  not  matter.  There  can  be  but  one  result. 
In  countries  where  a  powerful  and  evangelically 
trained  public  sentiment  does  not  restrain  them, 
Catholic  priests  are  the  embodiment  of  venality  and 
sexual  corruption.  They  are  in  this  largely  the  vic- 
tims of  a  system.  Having  little  recourse  for  personal 
religion  except  that  of  artificial  absolution  at  the 
hands  of  another  man,  as  sinful  perhaps  as  them- 
selves, an  absolution  which  can  by  no  sort  of  means 
satisfy  the  human  conscience,  they  are,  on  the  other 
hand,  beset  by  temptations  and  opportunities  to 
which  not  even  the  purest  and  most  robust  of  Chris- 
tians could  safely  be  exposed. 

4.  The  Confessional  and  Impurity. —  The  emphasis 
on  sexual  impurity,  which  is  the  inevitable  concomi- 
tant of  that  theory  which  underlies  the  celibate  priest- 
hood, is  carried  still  further  in  the  practical  workings 
of  Catholicism  by  the  degrading  intimacies  and 
treacherous  suggestions  of  the  confessional.  A  mor- 
bid morality  has  thrown  into  powerful  relief  this 
particular  weakness  of  the  flesh,  until,  by  the  very 
reaction  of  human  nature  against  the  over-refinements 


274  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

of  a  theology  which  offers  no  efficient  remedy  for  the 
evil  which  it  augments  by  so  constantly  condemning 
it,  Catholic  populations  have  become  notorious  as 
among  the  most  corrupt  in  the  world. 

5.  Missions  in  Papal  Lands  Justified. —  This  con- 
nection between  the  tenets  of  the  Catholic  faith  and 
the  condition  of  the  priests  and  people  in  Catholic 
countries  will  serve  to  explain  the  statement  made 
above,  that  the  defects  of  Catholicism  are  radical; 
they  inhere  in  her  fundamental  doctrines.  Given  the 
power,  the  temptations,  and  the  moral  bias  which  are 
the  lot  of  a  man  trained  to  be  a  priest,  and  the  chances 
are  so  favorable  for  his  downfall  that  virtually  his 
only  hope  is  in  a  bracing  atmosphere  of  public  senti- 
ment. That,  however,  he  cannot  have  if  surrounded 
by  an  ignorant  and  subservient  people.  The  countries 
where  Catholicism  is  predominant  should  be  culti- 
vated by  the  evangelical  Churches  as  mission  fields, 
not  merely  that  many  people  may  receive  a  clearer 
conception  and  experience  of  Christianity  than  that 
given  by  Catholicism,  but  also  that  Catholicism  itself, 
which  has  there  grown  stagnant  by  uninterrupted 
power,  may  be  toned  up  by  the  wholesome  pressure 
which  will  come  upon  it  through  popular  enlighten- 
ment. Catholicism,  as  scarely  need  be  said,  has  many 
elements  of  Christian  truth,  and  when  raised  to  its 
best  estate  through  competition  with  Protestantism 
amid  an  intelligent  and  moral  population,  may  prove 
a  valuable  agency  for  developing  the  religious  life 
among  men.  But  those  who  have  to  deal  with  it, 
from  without  or  from  within,  should  never  forget  that 
it  has  at  its  very  center  a  gnawing  worm  of  error. 
The  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  a  prophet,  not  a  priest. 


ROMAN    CATHOLICISM  275 

He  cannot  forgive  sins.  He  cannot  offer  a  propitia- 
tion. He  cannot  open  or  close  the  gate  of  heaven. 
Christ's  people  are  all  priests  —  a  kingdom  of  priests 
—  in  the  sense  that  each  can  for  himself  plead  the 
merits  of  the  one  great  Sacrifice  and  offer  the  in- 
cense of  a  holy  life,  itself  a  living  sacrifice.  But  in 
the  sense  of  mediation,  since  Christ  there  are  no 
priests. 

III.  Evils  Affecting  the  People. — i.  Free 
Thought  Discouraged. —  Besides  these  deplorable  ef- 
fects of  the  sacerdotal  conception  upon  the  priests, 
there  are  others  which  concern  both  priests  and  peo- 
ple, and  which  are  not  less  disastrous.  A  corollary  of 
the  theory  that  the  priest's  authority  in  religious  mat- 
ters is  absolute  is  that  the  people  should  not  think 
too  much  for  themselves.  The  exact  definition  of 
how  much  they  shall  think  becomes,  of  course,  a  flex- 
ible matter,  which  must  be  left  to  the  priest.  To 
keep  intact  the  integrity  of  his  somewhat  artificial  sys- 
tem, he  is  sure  to  find  it  desirable  for  them  to  think 
as  little  as  possible.  It  is  especially  trying  to  him  for 
them  to  think  on  the  basis  of  Scripture.  The  most 
ignorant  man,  with  the  Bible  in  his  hands,  can  ask 
questions  that  will  shake  the  Catholic  fabric  of  doc- 
trine to  its  center. 

2.  Bible  and  Schools. —  The  result  of  all  this  has 
been  that  wherever  Catholicism  is  in  the  ascendant,  the 
Bible  is  a  prohibited  book  and  schools  are  at  a  dis- 
count. These  are  two  great  crimes  against  humanity. 
It  is,  unfortunately,  no  more  necessary  to  adduce  facts 
in  illustration  of  them  than  it  is  to  quote  testimony 
to  prove  the  corruption  of  the  priests.  The  facts  are 
universally  known.  They  cry  to  heaven.  Under  the 


276  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

pretext  of  protesting  against  godless  education, 
Catholicism  is  the  enemy  of  the  public  school  in  every 
nation,  openly  when  it  is  safe,  covertly  otherwise,  but 
implacable  always.  If  this  attitude  were  really  sin- 
cere, it  would  be  a  position  worthy  of  respect.  The 
best  thought  of  the  world  holds  that  religious  train- 
ing should  be  an  integral  part  of  education.  But 
there  are  only  too  many  instances  to  prove  that  Rome 
does  not  merely  oppose  secular  education;  the  thing 
she  is  really  fighting  is  the  enlightenment  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  very  simple  reason  for  this  is  that  once 
they  are  enlightened  the  priests  can  no  longer  assert 
over  them  their  authority. 

3.  Effect  on  the  Priests. —  The  ramifications  of  this 
evil   are   wide.     It   damages   the   priests   themselves, 
first  of  all.     No  man  can  preserve  a  high  ideal  of  in- 
tellectual training  for  himself  while  urging  others  to 
remain   in   ignorance.     A   man   who   associates   with 
and  ministers  to  a  sluggish  and  dull  people  will  find 
his  own  power  of  thought  atrophied.     It  is  like  people 
like    priest.     He    may    even   become    known    as    the 
apostle  and  advocate  of  ignorance,  the  champion  of 
obscurantism.     He   will   in  time   set  himself  against 
every  ray  of  popular  illumination,  every  advance  step 
of  popular  progress.     Precisely  this  is  the  attitude  and 
the  reputation  of  the  priests  in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  the 
Spanish  colonies,  and  even  in  France. 

4.  Their  Ignorance  of  the  Bible. — These  protagon- 
ists of  ignorance  illustrate  their  doctrine  by  their  own 
dullness  even  in  matters  of  religion.     To  my  certain 
knowledge  comparatively  few  of  the  priests  in  Mexico 
own    a    Bible,    and    those    who    do    are    usually    so 
ignorant  of  its  contents  and  so  inept  in  its  use  that 


ROMAN   CATHOLICISM  2/7 

in  controversy  the  most  unskilled  evangelical  preacher 
is  more  than  a  match  for  one  of  them.  If  by  accident 
they  are  drawn  into  such  a  controversy,  they  soon  take 
refuge  in  a  forced  or  real  indignation  at  the  presump- 
tion of  the  irreverent  Protestant,  whereupon  their 
noisy  demonstrations  quickly  arouse  popular  sym- 
pathy for  the  "  poor  padre !  "  The  controversialist 
of  the  second  part  must  then  look  to  it  that  he  does 
not  get  a  shower  of  stones  or  a  pistol  shot  as  a  reward 
of  his  victory. 

5.  Disastrous  Effects  on  the  People. —  The  effects 
of  this  advocacy  of  ignorance  by  the  great  and  Holy 
Mother  Church  upon  a  humble  and  docile  people  are 
necessarily  disastrous.     This  is  what  has  cost  Spain 
her  supremacy  in  the  politics  and  intellectual  life  of 
the   world.     A  professor   in  the   university  at   Sala- 
manca is  responsible  for  the  statement  that  one  of  the 
most   popular   and    widely    used    catechisms    in    that 
country  contains  this  answer  to  a  certain  question: 
"  Do  not  ask  that  question  of  me,  who  am  an  ignorant 
man ;  the  Holy  Mother,  the  Catholic  Church,  has  doc- 
tors who  will  be  able  to  answer."     It  is  no  wonder 
that  he  adds  that,  as  a  consequence  of  such  religious 
training,  "  the  immense  majority  of  the  nation,  com- 
posed of  illiterates  or  little  better  than  that,  does  not 
think  for  itself  and  has  no  opinions  on  religion,  edu- 
cation,   or   politics."     What   this    means    to   national 
prestige  was  brought  home  to  Spain   with   a  shock 
when  in  one  hundred  days  of  war  she  suffered  an  un- 
interrupted series  of  defeats,  culminating  in  the  loss  of 
all  her  remaining  island  colonies. 

6.  Resulting   Skepticism. —  If   these    direct    results 
on  priest  and  people  of  the  reactionary  attitude  of 


278  RELIGIONS  OF  MISSION   FIELDS 

Rome  concerning  popular  education  are  deplorable, 
not  less  so  are  certain  indirect  but  equally  inevitable 
effects.  An  incalculable  injury  to  all  concerned  is 
done  when  Christianity  is  made  to  appear  as  the 
enemy  of  enlightenment.  Wherever  a  retrograde 
Catholicism  is  the  only  form  of  Christianity  known, 
the  thoughtful  and  the  educated  are  sure  to  become 
skeptics,  more  or  less  hostile  to  the  Christian  re- 
ligion. A  double  injury  is  thus  done,  an  injury  to 
these  men  and  an  injury  to  the  cause  of  Christ. 
While  it  is  true  that  the  rigid  orthodoxy  of  Catholi- 
cism concerning  certain  fundamental  doctrines  has 
made  a  deep  and  abiding  impression  on  the  minds  of 
the  simple  and  submissive,  it  is  also  true  that  the 
superstitions  and  the  pretensions  of  that  faith  have 
been  among  the  thoughtful  a  most  fruitful  source  of 
unbelief.  In  Mexico  so  stubborn  has  been  the  fight 
between  the  Church  and  all  progress,  intellectual  and 
political,  that  a  man  who  is  a  liberal  considers  him- 
self of  necessity  an  unbeliever.  Even  the  young 
women  graduates  of  state  normal  schools,  having 
come  under  the  ban  of  the  Church  by  attending  a 
State  school,  usually  cut  the  knot  of  their  difficulties 
by  renouncing  altogether  their  faith  in  Christianity. 
It  will  probably  never  be  known  to  what  extent  the 
skepticism  of  France  is  to  be  traced  to  the  powerful 
hold  of  Catholicism  on  that  country.  Through  nearly 
a  century  the  Concordat  which  Napoleon  foisted  upon 
an  otherwise  progressive  people  has  enabled  the 
Catholic  hierarchy  to  strangle  Protestantism,  and  has 
bred  infidelity  till  religiously  France  has  been  well- 
nigh  ruined. 
IV.  Catholicism  and  Idolatry. — As  the  evil  effects 


ROMAN   CATHOLICISM  279 

of  the  wrong  teaching  and  practices  of  Catholicism 
already  outlined  gradually  work  themselves  out,  they 
assume  other  and  still  grosser  forms. 

1.  Image  Worship. —  One  of  these,  sure  to  manifest 
itself   since   it   appears   to  appeal   to   some    inherent 
weakness  of  humanity,  is  idolatry.     It  is  customary 
for   defenders   of   Catholicism   to  decry   this   charge, 
denying  outright   the   tendency   and   the   facts.     But 
both    are   so   well   known   that   the   denial   can   only 
weigh  with  those  who  are  not  informed.     The  tend- 
ency of  a  priestly  system  toward  materialistic  forms, 
and  even  toward  material  objects  of  worship,  is  oddly 
illustrated  by  the  Greek  Church.     That  Church,  lay- 
ing an  exaggerated  emphasis  on  the  second  command- 
ment, long  forbade  the  setting  up  of  any  kind  of  an 
image.     Only  objects  simply  suggestive  of  the  saint  or 
deity  were  allowed, —  mere  ikons,  signs.     But  little  by 
little  this  rigidity  was  relaxed  till  now  the  Russian 
Church  will  allow  as  an  ikon  anything  in  the  way  of 
an  image  that  has  a  flat  surface;  it  merely  must  not 
be  carved  or  in  relief.     Aside  from  this  finical  dis- 
tinction, image  worship  is  quite  as  gross  in  the  mod- 
ern Greek  Church  as  in  Roman  Catholicism  itself. 

2.  Worship   of  the   Virgin. —  But,   it   will  be  pro- 
tested,  Catholics   do  not  really  worship   images  and 
saints,  nor  even  the  Virgin   Mother.     Unfortunately 
this  is  not  true.     The  worship  of  the  Virgin  is  so 
common  and  so  open  even  in  our  own  country  that 
it  is  surprising  that  any  one  should  have  the  hardi- 
hood to  deny  it.     Indeed,  it  may  well  be  suspected 
that  it  is  one  of  the  chief  elements  of  that  charm  for 
the    feminine    mind    which    Roman    Catholicism    un- 
doubtedly possesses. 


280  RELIGIONS   OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

3.  Catholic  Explanation  Refuted. —  As  for  the  ex- 
planation that  the  saints  and  their  images,  as  well  as 
the  images  of  Christ, —  in  a  strictly  Catholic  country 
they    do    not    balk    at    representations    even    of    the 
Father    and    of    the    Holy    Spirit, — are    appealed    to 
merely  as  intercessors,  the  images  simply  helping  a 
weak  imagination,  this  is  very  well  for  those  whose 
minds  are  acute  enough  to  make  such  distinctions. 
But   the   intellectual   status   of   the   average   Catholic 
in  the  representative  Catholic  country  must  not  be  left 
out  of  the  account.     He  is  both  incapable  of  such  a 
refinement  and  indisposed  to  it. 

4.  Idolatry  Emphasises  the  Material. —  The   truth 
is,  the  idolatry  which  mars  Catholicism  is  not  merely 
to  be  dealt  with  as  a  stubborn  and  well-attested  fact. 
It  is  a  fact  which  answers   to  manifest   tendencies. 
We  must  hark  back  again  to  the  root  defect  in  doc- 
trine.    By    substituting    a    priestly    and    materialistic 
form  of  sacrifice  and  atonement  for  that  spiritual  re- 
generation  which   the   Gospel  contemplates,   the   em- 
phasis of  religion  is  removed  from  the  spiritual  to  the 
material.     All  the  various  elements  of  concomitants 
of  this  substituted  worship  then  take  on  an  atmos- 
phere of  sacredness.     The  church  house  is  holy,  the 
soil  of  the  cemetry  is  consecrated,  the  priest's  robes, 
the  priest  himself,  the  cup  of  the  sacrament,  the  wafer, 
—  now  a  Host, —  the  crucifix  before  which  burn  con- 
secrated candles  and  the  kneeling  penitents  worship, — 
all  these  are  invested  with  a  fictitious  and  communi- 
cated sanctity  which  but  serves  to  confuse  the  wor- 
shipper's mind.     It  is  not  easy  for  him  to  say  what  he 
is  reverencing.     He  worships  it  all  in  a  blind  way, 
and  carrying  away  an  amulet,  or  a  blessed  image,  sets 


ROMAN    CATHOLICISM 

up  a  shrine  to  the  Virgin,  or  to  St.  James  or  St.  John, 
in  his  own  house.  That  image  he  worships  as  cer- 
tainly and  as  blindly  as  does  the  African  his  fetich, 
and  quite  as  unprofitably.  If  you  question  him  you 
will  find  that  when  he  speaks  of  his  "  saint "  he  is 
talking  about  the  image.  If  it  happens  to  be  "a 
Christ," — such  is  the  current  phrase, — he  is  confused 
and  puzzled  when  you  call  his  attention  to  the  fact 
that  there  is  but  one  Christ.  The  barren  and  hope- 
less spiritual  life  resulting  from  such  worship  is  a 
moving  spectacle.  It  is  the  atrophy  of  the  human 
soul,  the  degradation  of  the  spiritual  to  the  level  of 
the  material.  The  aesthetic  accompaniments  of  their 
worship  —  costly  temples,  delicious  music,  gorgeous 
ritual  —  only  throw  into  stronger  relief  the  irrepar- 
able loss  which  men  suffer  whose  spirits  are  not 
drawn  into  communion  through  holy  adoration  and 
prayer  with  the  Infinite  God. 

V.  Divorce  Between  Religion  and  Morality. — I. 
Tendency  of  Ritualism. —  The  last  estate  of  all  in  the 
development  of  Catholicism's  erroneous  preaching  of 
Christ  is  the  divorce  between  religion  and  morality. 
This  has  ever  been  the  curse  of  ritualism,  the  pitfall 
of  ritualistic  religions.  Men,  if  they  can  find  any  ex- 
cuse for  it  or  any  encouragement  in  it,  are  always 
prone  to  tithe  the  mint  and  the  anise  as  a  pretext 
for  neglecting  justice  and  mercy.  A  highly  elabor- 
ated ritual  unfortunately  seems  always  to  furnish  such 
an  excuse.  The  Old  Testament  prophets  thundered 
against  the  ritual-hardened  Jews,  who  had  so  far  for- 
gotten the  law  of  their  God  as  to  bring  him  offerings 
in  hands  that  were  full  of  blood,  and  to  trample  his 
courts  like  an  evil  and  cruel  herd  of  beasts,  covering 


282  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION   FIELDS 

his  altar  with  vain  oblations.  Yet  the  Old  Testament, 
from  beginning  to  end,  even  in  its  ritualistic  portions, 
never  ceases  to  insist  that  God  prefers  mercy  to  sacri- 
fice. Equally  unreasonable  with  this  perversion  of 
the  old  dispensation  would  seem  any  system  of  formal 
worship  built  up  on  the  teachings  of  Christ  which 
should  by  some  hocus-pocus  divorce  religion  so  called 
from  purity  of  heart  and  life.  Yet  just  that  thing 
has  been  done.  By  making  the  sanctions  of  the 
Church  depend  on  compliance  with  purely  ceremonial 
requirements, —  acts  which  do  not  take  hold  upon  the 
moral  consciousness  nor  involve  any  inward  change, — 
Catholicism  has  come  to  exhibit  the  surprising 
phenomenon  of  bad  men  and  women  who  are,  as  they 
believe  and  have  been  taught,  good  Christians.  Like 
the  self-deception  of  the  priests,  this  is  bad  both  for 
these  dupes  and  for  Christianity.  It  makes  the  task 
of  those  who  preach  a  pure  gospel  seem  harder  at 
times  among  such  a  people  than  it  would  be  among 
heathen  men  completely  ignorant  of  Christianity. 

2.  Religion  in  Catholic  Lands. —  The  Christian  re- 
ligion, as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  has  but  a  poor 
reputation  among  the  thoughtful  in  those  countries 
where  the  Catholic  Church,  unchallenged  and  un- 
checked, is  its  only  representative.  And  no  wonder. 
The  highwayman  and  the  thief  are  there  often  reck- 
oned good  Christians.  The  bull-fighter  and  the  low 
cheat  may  be  loyal  sons  of  the  Church.  Men  by  pay- 
ing to  the  priests  not  only  get  pardon  for  their  past 
sins,  but  for  those  which  they  intend  to  commit.  The 
priest  will  —  also  for  a  price,  paid  in  advance  —  en- 
gage to  interfere  with  the  disposal  of  affairs  in  the 


ROMAN    CATHOLICISM  283 

spirit  world  and  to  lighten  the  penalties  of  those  who 
were  hurried  thither  without  due  preparation. 

3.  Prevents  Moral  Development. —  So  it  comes  to 
pass  that  one's  welfare,  present  and  eternal,  depends 
upon   how   he   stands   with   the   priest,   who,   having 
charge  of  these   things,   kindly   reduces   it   all   to  a 
financial  schedule,  so  that  he  may  know  just  how  to 
dispose  of  it.     The  principle  of  absolution,  of  dele- 
gating all  moral  responsibility,  is  thus  firmly  estab- 
lished.    The  people  will  not  think,  because  the  priest 
thinks    for    them.     They    need   not    heed   their   con- 
sciences, for  he  is  the  conscience  of  them  all.     Thus 
are  they  robbed  of  that  moral  development  without 
which  there  can  be  no  true  religion,  and  still  less  any 
true   morality.     Religion,   which   should   develop   the 
moral  nature  and  be  a  tonic  and  a  stimulant  to  the 
spiritual     man,     has     became    merely     an     objective 
spectacle,  moving  indeed  and  highly  respected,  but  ex- 
ternal  nevertheless,   and   unmoral.     The   unfortunate 
but  inevitable  tendency  to  venality  on  the  part  of  the 
priests  only  makes  matters  worse.     Men  lose  respect 
for  a  salvation  that  can  be  bought,  and  even  more  for 
a  religious  teacher  who  professes  to  sell  it. 

4.  Priestly    Avarice. —  The    open    avarice    of    the 
priests   is   the    most    shocking   and    deplorable   thing 
about  Romanism  in  the  countries  where  it  has  had  un- 
checked development.     They  charge  a  fee  for  every- 
thing,—  for  baptisms,  marriages,  masses,  funerals,  all, 
—  insist  on   payment  in   advance,   and   instead  of   a 
fixed   schedule   vary   the   fee,   demanding   always   as 
much  as  they  think  they  can  get.     So  exorbitant  is 
their    usual    price    for    marriage    that    thousands    of 


284  RELIGIONS  OF   MISSION    FIELDS 

couples  in  every  Catholic  country  live  together  and 
rear  their  children  without  having  been  married. 

5.  Enforcing   Christian  Morality   Difficult. —  As   a 
consequence  of   these   conditions,    long   continued   in 
many  instances,  it  is  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that 
Christian  morality  can  be  enforced  after  the  Gospel 
is   introduced   and  accepted.     Religion   has  had   im- 
posed upon  it  the  double  task  of  enforcing  a  genuine 
spiritual   regeneration  and  a  purified  life  among  its 
converts  and  of  establishing  a  place  for  itself  in  the 
esteem    of    thoughtful    observers,    already    strongly 
prejudiced   against  it.     Upon  both   missionaries   and 
converts  in  Roman  Catholic  countries  is  laid  thereby 
a  great  weight  of  responsibility. 

6.  Corroboration    of    Travelers. —  Such    in    outline 
are  some  of  the  aspects  in  which  the  Roman  Catholic 
presentation   of    Christianity    is    defective.     The   pic- 
ture is  really  much  darker  when  the  outlines  are  filled 
in.     Facts  in  illustration  of  the  points  here  made, — • 
for  which  there  is  but  little  space, —  may  be  found 
in  any  traveler's  account  of  the  Catholic  countries  of 
Europe  or  of  the  Spanish  colonies  in  America  and  the 
islands  of  the  sea.     Many  such  books  are  by  Catholic 
writers.     Two  that  I  happen  to  know  something  of 
treat  of  Mexico.     One  is  the  letters  of  Madame  Cal- 
deron  de  la  Barca  to  her  daughters,  printed  in  two 
volumes  under  the  title  "  Life  in  Mexico,"  and  the 
other,  "  Le  Mexique  tel  qu'il  est,"  by  Abbe  Domenech. 
The  latter  has  not  been  translated  into  English,  so 
far  as  I  know,  but  it  is  summarized  and  extensively 
quoted  in  the  Hon.  Gorham  D.  Abbott's  "  Mexico  and 
the  United   States."     This  is   itself   a  valuable  book 


ROMAN    CATHOLICISM  285 

on  the  general  question  I  have  been  treating,  though 
somewhat  scattering  and  disconnected. 

7.  Pleasing  Traits. —  It  is  but  fair  to  add  to  what 
has  been  already  said,  that  kindly  observers  see  much 
to  like  in  the  peoples  who  have  for  generations  been 
trained  in  Catholicism.  These  peoples  are  usually  de- 
vout in  their  belief  in  God  and  reverent  in  their  de- 
meanor. Their  freedom  from  responsibility  has  in- 
duced an  easy  lightness  of  temper  that  is  pleasing  to 
the  casual  observer,  and  the  habit  of  implicit  obe- 
dience to  their  superiors  makes  them  humble,  patient, 
and  deferential.  They  are  usually  kindly  and  sym- 
pathetic with  each  other.  Such  traits  are  character- 
istic of  the  humble  and  indigent  masses.  That  they 
have  their  charm  is  not  to  be  denied.  Yet  they  but 
seem  to  set  in  higher  relief  the  spiritual  bankruptcy 
which  I  have  been  describing.  These  people  do  believe 
in  God,  yet  it  is  with  a  faith  so  blind  and  unknowing 
that  they  can  give  no  account  of  it  to  an  unbeliever. 
They  are  outwardly  devout,  and  indeed  mean  to  be 
reverent.  Yet  they  will  call  a  street  "  Holy  Ghost 
Street,"  they  will  name  a  saloon  "  Paradise,"  and  a 
boy  "  Jesus  "  or  "  Savior,"  and  they  constantly  use  as 
exclamations  of  surprise  or  anger  the  most  sacred 
phrases  of  their  religion.  They  are  care-free  and 
cheerful,  but  it  is  the  cheer  of  vacuous  and  childish 
minds.  Their  contentment  is  contentment  with  igno- 
rance, with  squalor,  with  actual  want, —  a  contentment 
which  springs  not  from  philosophic  acceptance,  but 
from  utter  hopelessness  of  anything  better.  They 
are  deferential  to  superiors, — too  deferential.  Noth- 
ing but  slavery  and  tyranny  could  have  taught  this 
trait  so  perfectly.  And  by  reason  of  their  contented 


286  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

ignorance,  their  submissive  spirit,  and  lack  of  indi- 
vidual initiative,  they  become  the  prey  of  designing 
priests  and  unscrupulous  politicians.  The  political 
and  religious  atmosphere  of  Catholic  countries  is  thick 
with  revolutions  and  disturbances.  It  will  never  clear 
till  a  pure  Gospel  has  had  time  to  develop  there  a 
robust  and  self-respecting  citizenship.  The  motive 
for  sending  missionaries  to  such  countries  is  not 
therefore  merely  religious,  it  is  also  social  and  phil- 
anthropic. 

VI.  Missions  to  Papal  Lands. — i.  Not  Hope- 
less.—  The  missionary  to  a  Roman  Catholic  country 
is  frequently  asked  if  he  does  not  find  the  people  so 
devoted  to  that  Church  after  all  these  centuries  that 
it  is  almost  a  hopeless  undertaking  to  try  to  convert 
them  to  another  view  of  Christianity.  This  is  con- 
stantly assumed  to  be  true  by  the  ordinary  traveler 
and  newspaper  correspondent.  First  of  all,  in  reply, 
it  is  to  be  said  that  the  length  of  time  a  man's  fore- 
fathers may  have  held  a  certain  belief  has  little  to  do 
with  his  own  acceptance  of  it.  In  practical  matters 
we  are  not  usually  much  influenced  by  the  opinions 
and  the  preferences  of  the  past.  This  is  especially 
true  among  the  illiterate,  whose  hold  upon  the  past  is 
purely  through  hearsay,  its  literature  being  to  them 
a  terra  incognita. 

2.  Attachment  to  Catholicism  Largely  Sentimental. 
—  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  attachment  of  the  people 
of  Catholic  countries  to  the  Church  of  their  fathers  is 
more  a  sentimental  than  an  intellectual  bond.  They 
like  to  think  that  they  are  true  to  the  faith  of  their 
land,  and  the  notion  that  there  is  any  distinction  to  be 
drawn  between  Catholicism  and  Christianity  never 


ROMAN    CATHOLICISM  287 

occurs  to  them.  Yet  they  are  not  as  a  rule  satisfied 
with  their  religion.  They  have  never  been  instructed 
in  the  tenets  of  their  faith.  They  hear  few  sermons, 
sing  no  hymns,  attend  no  Sunday-schools.  Their 
minds,  their  spiritual  life,  remain  unfed.  Meantime 
doubt  often  assails  them,  and  discontent,  through  the 
channel  of  their  own  moral  instincts.  Their  ideas  of 
sanctity  may  be  crude,  but  they  are  nevertheless  such 
as  the  Church  does  not  satisfy.  The  avarice  of  the 
priests,  especially,  is  a  source  of  almost  daily  irrita- 
tion, growing  not  seldom  into  smoldering  resentment. 

3.  Attractions  of  the  Bible. —  They  are  not  there- 
fore  by   any    means    inaccessible.     Their   minds   are 
avid;  they  are  full  of  spiritual  cravings.     The  Bible 
recommends  itself  to  them  at  sight  by  its  agreement 
with  their  own  beliefs  as  to  God,  the  Savior,  heaven, 
and  other  fundamentals.     But  no  sooner  do  they  be- 
gin  to   read   it  than   they   are   at   once  amused   and 
shocked  to  discover  why  it  is  that  the  priests  have  al- 
ways opposed  their  seeing  this  book.     There  is  noth- 
ing in  it  about  the  Mass,  the  confessional,  purgatory, 
the  worship  of  the  Virgin,  nor  even  about  priests,  ex- 
cept those  whom  our  Lord   sharply  condemned   for 
the  very  things  the  Catholic  priests  are  guilty  of.     All 
this    makes   the    way   of   the  missionary   easy.    .The 
Catholic  Church  will  have  to  change  its  manner  of 
dealing  with  its  people,  or  it  will  lose  them.     A  senti- 
mental attachment  to  "  the  religion  of  the  fathers  " 
will  not  stand  before  the  enlightening  and  soothing 
appeal  of  a  pure  Gospel. 

4.  Real    Task    of    Missions. —  The    real    task    of 
evangelical  missions  is  not  to  detach  the  people  from 
Rome.     That   is   comparatively   easy,   once   they   are 


288  RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

reached.  The  Bible  alone  may  be  trusted  to  do  most 
that  is  required.  But  the  rejection  of  what  they  have 
hitherto  believed  is  not  enough.  They  must  be  made 
to  understand  that  religion  is  not  a  mere  theory,  but 
a  manner  of  life.  It  is  easier  to  get  adherents  in  a 
crusade  against  a  false  system  of  belief  than  it  is  to 
add  to  the  number  of  genuine  and  spiritual  Christians. 
Those  who  as  Catholics  have  been  religious  without 
being  moral  will  wish  so  to  continue  as  Protestants. 

5.  Anti-clericalism. —  Converts  in  this  sense  may  be 
obtained  the  more  readily  because  hostility  to  "  the 
clergy,"  to  use  a  phrase  current  in  all  Catholic  coun- 
tries,  is   far  more   widespread  than  appears  on  the 
surface.     The   women   are   usually    devout   Catholics 
and,   by   consequence,    devoted   to   the   priests.     The 
men,  however,  even  among  the  ignorant  and  humble, 
not  seldom  entertain  a  deep-seated  resentment  against 
these  religious  leaders,  individually  or  collectively  or 
both,  that  is  all  the  more  bitter  because  concealed. 
When  one  gets  at  their  real  sentiments  the  heat  of 
this  enmity  is  often  most  surprising.     Such  men  will 
often  ally  themselves  with  an  evangelical  Church  for 
the  sole  purpose  of   favoring  something   which   the 
priests  condemn  and  hate.     They  thus  become  at  once 
a  help  and  a  trial  to  the  missionary. 

6.  Attitude  of  Lay  Leaders. —  This  "  anti-clerical- 
ism," cherished  in  secret  by  the  men  of  the  middle  and 
lower  classes,  is  openly  avowed  by  the  educated  and 
progressive.     The  intelligent  leaders  of  every  Roman 
Catholic  country  welcome  Protestantism  because  they 
know  that  Catholicism  needs  a  religious  competitor. 
They  themselves  are  skeptical,  often  atheistic.     They 
care  nothing  for  religion,  and  so  do  not  ally  them- 


ROMAN    CATHOLICISM  289 

selves  with  Protestantism.  Yet  their  attitude  to  it  is 
kindly,  and  they  pass  and  enforce  laws  guaranteeing 
religious  liberty.  To  be  sure  there  is  somewhat  of 
make-belief  in  their  reasons  for  steering  clear  them- 
selves of  Protestantism.  They  are  in  many  instances 
not  such  resolute  skeptics  that  they  would  not  really 
like  to  look  into  its  claims.  But  their  wives  are 
Catholics,  their  business  relations  are  subject  to  con- 
stant pressure  from  the  priests  and  bishops,  and  only 
too  often  their  lives  are  such  as  would  not  stand  the 
test  of  any  sort  of  a  religious  society.  So  they  affect 
to  ignore  the  whole  subject.  This  is  an  attitude 
which  cannot  be  permanently  maintained.  Sooner  or 
later  the  claims  of  evangelical  truth  must  force  them- 
selves upon  these  open  minds.  The  enlightened 
classes  are  also  constantly  growing  by  the  addition  of 
men  and  women  from  among  the  illiterate  educated  in 
the  improved  schools  of  the  present  era  of  schools. 
When  it  ceases  to  be  unfashionable  to  be  a  Protestant, 
as  well  as  dangerous  alike  to  one's  business  and  social 
standing,  a  notable  advance  will  be  made  by  the 
evangelical  Churches. 

7.  Remaining  Obstacles  to  Mission  Work. —  In  the 
early  days  of  evangelical  missions  open  persecution 
was  often  resorted  to  by  the  priests.  Mexico  has  a 
bead-roll  of  about  sixty  martyrs  to  the  faith.  In  most 
Catholic  countries,  this  is  not  now  allowed.  Petty 
and  indirect  persecution  still  goes  on,  of  course,  but  it 
is  not  a  factor  of  special  importance  among  the  mis- 
sionary's difficulties.  The  chief  obstacles  which  he 
will  encounter  are  the  stubborn  misconceptions  of  the 
people  as  to  the  meaning  of  religion,  of  the  sacra- 
ments, the  Church,  etc.,  and  the  intrenched  immorality 


RELIGIONS   OF    MISSION    FIELDS 

which  will  meet  him  at  every  turn.  Minor  difficul- 
ties are  those  of  obtaining  access  to  the  people,  of 
overcoming  their  fear  of  social  and  business  ostra- 
cism, their  attachment  to  idle  and  often  sinful 
customs,  and  of  infusing  into  native  teachers  and 
preachers  the  proper  Christian  spirit  of  humility  and 
sincerity.  The  people  have  been  tyrannized  over  so 
long  that  their  very  submissiveness  is  a  snare  to  the 
religious  teacher.  And  they  have  been  so  long  con- 
tent with  a  religion  of  externals  that  any  clear  con- 
ception of  spiritual  things  is  far  from  them.  There 
awaits  him  also  somewhat  of  discouragement  in  find- 
ing that  he  must  deal  almost  exclusively  with  the  ignoj 
rant  and  uninfluential  elements  in  the  population. 
The  time  of  access  to  the  better  classes  has  not  yet 
come.  He  will  console  himself,  however,  by  the  re- 
flection that  education  and  the  Gospel  will  soon 
change  for  the  better  the  status  of  the  lowest  and  most 
ignorant,  the  more  so  since  in  Catholic  countries  the 
poorer  classes  are  usually  of  a  more  robust  type, 
physically  as  well  as  morally,  than  are  the  wealthy. 
Meantime  he  will  be  content  that  "  the  poor  have  the 
Gospel  preached  unto  them," 


INDEX 


Abhidhamma    Pi^aka,    87. 

Africa  as   a   mission   field,  f  21— 23. 

African,  see  ch.  I:  religious,  3, 
4,  12,  14,  15;  other  character- 
istics, 5,  6,  15,  16;  how  taught, 
15—19;  extent  to  which  Afri- 
22.  For  their  religion,  see  ch.  I. 

African    religion,    see   ch.    I. 

Age,    reverence    for,    119. 

Agni,    Fire    god,    57. 

Alchemy  of   Taoism,    168,    169. 

Alms  of  Islam,   248,   249. 

Altar   of   Heaven   at   Peking,    194. 

Altars  to  the  African  Jingulube, 
n. 

Amaterasu,    see    Sun    goddess. 

Ananda,  Buddha's  favorite  disci- 
ple, 92,  93,  94,  97. 

Ancestor  worship:  Of  Shintoism, 
32,  33;  advantages  of,  32,  33, 
44;  modified  in  Japan,  42,  43; 
in  China,  201—208. 

Ancient    China,     164. 

Ancient    Hinduism,    53—59. 

Angels:  Called  by  mystic  names, 
221;  Moslem  beliefs  concern- 
ing, 239,  240. 

Anger:  of  African  deities,  12; 
Buddhist  precept  concerning, 
117. 

Animal   worship   in   Japan,    39. 

Antagonism  to  be  avoided  in 
Jewish  work,  230. 

Anti-clericalism,    288. 

Antiquity  in  China,  Early  and 
Middle,  185. 

Apes  vastly  below  the  lowest  Af- 
rican, 3. 

Apologists    for    Islam,    253. 

Apologizing  to  those  wronged,   74. 

Apotheosis   in   Taoism,    170.          , 

Arabian    Nights   and    Islam,    240. 

Aranyakas  of   Hinduism,   55. 

Architecture:  of  Shintoism,  28; 
aided  by  Buddhism,  129. 

Arhats,    113,    116. 

Art  in  Japan  religious,  39;  en- 
couraged by  Buddhism,  139. 

Artisans   in   Japan,    139. 

Arya  Samaj,   66. 

Ascension  Rescript  of  Japanese 
emperor,  42,  157. 

291 


Ascetic    life   of   Buddhism,    101. 
Asceticism,   Buddha's  view  of,  86. 
Asita,    a   hermit,    88. 
Asoka,    Buddhist   king,    83,    137. 
Aspirations  due  to  Buddhism,   141, 

142. 

Assimilative  power  of  Japan,   149. 
Atharva-veda,    54. 
Atheistic    character    of    Buddhism, 
_  96,  97,   123,   124. 
Atma,   soul,   99,    109. 
Atonement:    In    India,    72,    75-77; 

Jewish     doctrine     of,     223—225; 

lacking  in  Islam,  257. 
Attributes     of    God    in     Judaism, 

216. 
Austerities    given    up   by    Buddha, 

90;    other   view,    101. 
Avarice   of   African   witch   doctor, 
_  8;  of  priesthood,  283. 
Avijja,   ignorance,   99,    104,    105. 
Azazil,  proper  name  of  devil,  240. 

Banning  quoted,    223. 

Banyan,  sacred  tree  of  Buddhists, 
90. 

Bar-mitzvah,    220. 

Beliefs    of    Moslems,    238—245. 

Bells    of    Buddhism,    151. 

Benares,   83,   91. 

Benefits  conferred  by  non-Chris- 
tian religions,  see  Strength,  etc. 

Benevolence  Confucian  and  Chris- 
tian, 210. 

Bhagayad-gita,  ^59,  60,  61. 

Bhakti,  "adoring  worship,"  61; 
bhakti-marg,  61. 

Bible:  and  schools,  275,  276;  Ro- 
manist ignorance  of  Bible,  276, 
277;  attractive  to  Romanists, 
287;  in  Mohammedan  work, 
260,  261. 

Bibliographies:  on  African  reli- 
gion, 2;  on  Shintoism,  26;  on 
Hinduism,  52;  on  Buddhism  in 
Southern  Asia,  82;  on  Buddhism 
in  Japan,  134;  on  Taoism,  162; 
on  Confucianism,  184;  on  Ju- 
daism, 214;  on  Mohammedan- 
ism, 236;  on  Roman  Catholi- 
cism, 266. 

BIrana  grass,    105,    106. 


292 


INDEX 


Birth  of  Buddha,  88. 

Black  Stone  of  Moslems,  250,  251. 

Blavatsky,   Madame,    67. 

Bo    Tree    of    Buddhism,    go. 

Body,  Buddhism's  view  of,  100, 
101. 

Book   of   Changes   quoted,    193. 

Book   of    History,    186. 

Books  of  God,  Moslem,   241,   242. 

Brahma,  60,  97;  Great  Brahma, 
9i 

Brahma  jalasutta   quoted,    114. 

Brahma   Samaj,   65,  66. 

Brahmanas    of    Hinduism,    57,    58. 

Brahmanic  Hinduism,    57,   58. 

Brahmanism  and  its  relation  to 
Buddhism,  85,  86. 

Brahmans,   63. 

Brinkley  quoted,   140. 

British   flag   and   missions,    22. 

Buck,   Col.   A.   E.   quoted,    32. 

Buddha:  An  Indian  incarnation, 
60,  61;  chs.  IV,  V;  origin  of 
name,  91;  Great  Renunciation, 
89,  90;  enlightenment,  90;  last 
days,  94;  character,  95.  See 
chs.  IV,  V.  Buddha  and  Jesus, 
89,  95.  156,  157;  what  he 
thought  of  himself,  144,  145; 
his  extinction,  144. 

Buddhism:  For  main  topics  see 
Contents  of  chs.  IV,  V:  for 
minor  subdivisions,  see  head- 
ings and  italicised  words  in  chs. 
IV,  V:  rise  of,  59;  spread  in 
Asia,  163,  164;  number  of  ad- 
herents, 164. 

Buddhist:  Described,  devout  Jap- 
anese, 152—155;  in  China,  163. 

Bushel    Mother,    pole   star,    173. 

Butsu-dan,  Buddha  place,  139, 
152. 

Carus    quoted,    Paul,    145. 

Caste,   63,  64,   68,  69. 

Catechism    quoted,    Jewish,    225. 

Catholicism,  see  Roman  Catholi- 
cism, ch.  X. 

Celibacy  of  Roman  priesthood, 
273. 

Census  of  Mohammedans,  237 
note. 

Ceremonies  of  religion:  In  Afri- 
ca, ii,  12;  of  Shintoism,  34; 
of  ancestral  worship  explained, 
204,  205;  of  Orthodox  Jews, 
219,  220. 

Chang,   Taoism's   Pope,    171. 

Chang    Tao-ling,    176,    177. 

Character  not  idealized  in  Islam, 
257.  258. 

Character    of    Buddha,    95. 


Charity    for   all   men,    142. 

Charms   in    Africa,    12. 

Ch'i,    vital   breath,    169. 

Chieh  Chih-ts'ui,  Chinese  hero, 
199,  200. 

China,  Buddhist  influences  from, 
137,  138. 

"  Chinese  Gordon "  a  hero  in 
China,  201. 

Chou  Dynasty  in   China,   187. 

Christ,   person   of,    231. 

Christian  ethics,  119,  120;  idea 
of  worship,  47. 

Christian     sacerdotalism,     269. 

Christianity  to  be  urged,  essen- 
tials of,  232. 

Ch'u  Yuan,  Chinese  counselor, 
200. 

Chunda,    Buddha's    last    host,    94. 

Church  and  State  in  Japan,  150, 
151. 

Church  Missionary  Society  reso- 
lution, 262. 

Cjrcumcision   of  Moslems,   252. 

Cities   of   India,   sacred,   61. 

City  _gods  of  Taoism,    172. 

Civilization:  and  Japanese  Bud- 
dhism, 143;  of  China  and  Con- 
fucius, 189. 

College-bred  missionaries  desired, 
19—21. 

Comity  between  Japan  and  the 
Occident,  158,  159. 

Commentary  needed  to  make  Ko- 
ran intelligible,  241. 

Comparison  between  Buddha  and 
Jesus,  89,  95,  156,  157. 

Compromise:  of  Buddhism,  143; 
to  be  avoided  by  missionary,  71. 

Conciliation  of  religious  oppo- 
nents, 71-73. 

Concubinage:  partly  accounts  for 
unbroken  line  of  Japanese  em- 
perors, 31;  of  Islam,  252. 

Confessing    Christ,    Moslems,    264. 

Confessional    and     impurity,     273, 

~  274-  . 

Confucianism:  For  main  sub-top- 
ics see  Contents  of  ch.  VII,  for 
minor  topics  see  italicized  words 
and  phrases  of  same  chapter. 

Confucianists,    163,    164. 

Confucius:  Meets  Lao-tzH,  165, 
1 66;  life  and  influence,  187— 
191;  worshipped,  198,  199. 

Conquest,  Moslem  desire  for,  255, 
256. 

Conscience:  seared  by  Buddhism, 
68;  inactive  in  Buddhism,  124. 

Constantine,  Japanese  Buddhism's, 
137- 

Constellations  of  Taoism,   173. 

Controversy    with    Moslems,    263. 


INDEX 


293 


Conversations  with  Buddhists,  131. 

Cosmology,    see    World. 

Councils    of   Buddhism,    87. 

Court  favor  of  Buddhism,  138. 

Courtesy   of   missionary,    130. 

Creator   lacking   in    Buddhism,   98. 

Creed:  of  Orthodox  Jews,  216, 
217;  Islam's  short,  239;  confes- 
sion, 245,  246,  255. 

Cryptomerias  of  Japan,   38. 

Crystal  of  Shintoism,  29. 

Customs:  In  India  powerful,  65; 
of  Judaism,  228. 

Cycle  gods  of  Taoism,  173. 

Dai-butsu,    139. 

Darsanas  of  the  Upanishads,  55, 
58. 

Davids,   Rhys,  quoted,    107. 

Day  of  Atonement,  lessons  of,  224, 
225,  228. 

Dayanand  Sarasvati,  66. 

Dealing  with  Moslem  inquirers, 
263,  264. 

Death  accounted  for,  sudden,  8,  9. 

Death  of   Buddha,   94. 

Debendra  Nath  Tagore,  reformer 
of  India,  65. 

Decease,  Book  of  the  Great,  92. 

Deer   Park  at   Benares,   91,  92. 

Defects   of    Koranic   teaching,   242. 

Definition    of    Confucianism,    185. 

Degradation  of  Taoism,    181. 

Deification    of    Lao-tzu,    166. 

Delusions,    Three    Great,    99. 

Demonology    of    Taoism,    176—181. 

Dengyo  Daishi,  Buddhist  prelate, 
138- 

"  Departed   lives  "   8,   9,    10,    14. 

Desire,  see  Tanha. 

Desires  which  are  fostered  in  Bud- 
dhism, 147. 

Destructive  methods  of  mission- 
aries: In  Africa,  16,  17;  in 
Japan,  48. 

Development,  arrested,  see  Im- 
mobility. 

Devil:  _  Procession  of  Taoism, 
1 80;  in  Moslem  thought,  240. 

Dhammapada  quoted,  101,  103, 
105,  109,  126. 

Difficulties  of  Papal  missions,  287, 
288,  289,  290. 

Din,   or   good   works,   245—254. 

Dining  room  worship  of  Bud- 
dhists, 153,  154. 

Disciples    won  by    Buddha,   91,  92. 

Distribution  of  Mohammedans, 
237- 

Divine  descent  of  Japan's  em- 
perors, 31,  32. 

Divorce  between  religion  and 
morality,  281—286. 

Doctrines  of  Judaism,  215—218. 


Doctrine     of     the     Mean     quoted, 

197,  198. 

Dods  on  Moslem  wars,  254. 
Dotting  the  ancestral  tablet,  206. 
Downward    tendencies   of    religion 

in  Africa,  5,   14. 
Dragon,   Lao-tzfi    like   the,    166. 
Dragon-Tiger  Mountains,   177. 
Dravidian    cults,    influence   of,    on 

modern  Hinduism,  60. 
Dread  of  spirits  in   China,    179. 
Drunkard's  vow  of  abstinence,  38. 
Dualism:     of      Taoism,      169;      of 

Confucianism,     pantheistic,     193, 

194,   208. 
Dyaus-pitar    and     its     equivalents, 

57- 

Earth    and    Grain,    altars    to    gods 

of,  204. 
Eclecticism       of      the      Japanese, 

143,  149. 

Education:        fostered      by      Bud- 
dhism, 128;  of  Jewish  boys,  229. 
Educational    missions      for      Mos- 
lems, 261. 

Effects   of   sacerdotalism,    271—278. 
Eka-yana,    summarized,    145. 
Elephant,      Buddha's      incarnation 

and    a    white,    88. 
Elixir  of  life,    168,    169. 
Embassies  to  Japan,   Korean,    135, 

136. 
Emperor,  Chinese:  appoints  Taoist 

gods,    171;    China's    high    priest, 

194. 
Emperor    of    Japan,     present,    31, 

32,  35- 
Empresses  of  Japan  and  Buddhism, 

140. 
Energy,     conservation     of     moral, 

107. 
"'Enlightenment"       attained       by 

Buddha,   90,    no. 
Environment,  influences  of,  141. 
Epic    poems    of    Hinduism,    56. 
Equality,    recognition    of,     118. 
Ethics:     of     Buddhism,      114-120, 

129;    of   Confucianism,    208—211. 
Evil  company,  love  of,    117. 
Evil   gods  of  Taoism,   174. 
Evolution    in    religion,   44,   45,    46. 
Excommunication  in  Judaism,  228, 

229. 
Exorcists  of  Taoism,    179. 

Fables  of  the  Talmud,  226. 

Fasts   of    Islam,   248. 

Fear  in  religion:  Of  Africans, 
3.  4,  7;  in  India,  58,  64. 

Fellowship  central  in  Chinese  na- 
ture worship,  195,  196. 

Fence  of  the  Law  as  described  by 
Kroenig,  227. 


294 


INDEX 


Fetters,    the    Ten,    of    Buddhism, 

102,   103. 

Filial    love,    118,    119. 
Fire  Sermon  of  Buddha,  92. 
Fire-eaters  of  Africa,  8. 
Fires  and  Taoist  worship,   174. 
Five    Constants    of    Confucianism, 

209;   Five   Relations,  209. 
Five    Precepts   of    Buddhism,    115, 

116. 
Following     up     missionary     work, 

78,   79- 

Foibearance,    118. 
Forest   Treatises  of  Hinduism,   55. 
Foretelling  a  nation's  future,   188. 
Forms   of   Buddhism,    120-123. 
Four    Favors    of    Buddhism,    145, 

152. 
Four  Noble  Truths,   92,   103,   104, 

107,   no. 
Four    Vedas     of     Hinduism,     54, 

Foxes    worshipped    in    Japan,    39. 

Free  thought  and  Roman  Catholi- 
cism, 275. 

Funeral  of  devout  Buddhists,  155. 

Funeral    services   of   Taoism,    180. 

Futons,  Japanese  sleeping  quilts, 
152,  154- 

Gambler's  praying  for  deliver- 
ance, 38. 

Gautama,    see   Buddha. 
Gifts  in   Buddhism,   119. 
Girls  despised  in  India,  65. 
God,   Buddha's  view  as  to,  96. 
God  of  revelation,   the:   Name  for 

Him      lacking     in      Africa,      6; 

attributes    unknown    in    Africa, 

7;  with  missionaries,  22;  Moslem 

idea  of,  239. 
Gods:     Of    India,    57,    60,    69;    of 

Japan    155;   of  Taoism    170—174. 
God-trees    of   Japan,    39. 
Gokai,  prohibitory  precepts,  146. 
Golden  age  of  China,  186. 
Good  works  of  Islam,   245-254. 
Gospel    and    sacerdotalism,    269. 
Gotama,    Pali    for    Gautama.     See 

under  Buddha. 
Government    and    nature    worship, 

196. 

Government    of    Hades,    170. 
Grace  at  Jewish  meals,  220. 
Graves  visited  by  Shintoists,  34. 
Graveyard,  Africa  wrongly  thought 

to  be  a,  21. 
Great    Great,     name     of     African 

deity,    6,    7. 

Great  Learning  quoted,  195. 
Great  Renunciation  of  Buddha,  89, 

90. 
Great      sentences      of      Hinduism, 

two,  59  note. 


Great  Vehicle  of  Buddhism,  83, 
145. 

Hades   of   Taoism,    170. 

Hajj,    pilgrimage    to    Mecca,    249— 

251- 

Hanifite  Moslems,  238. 
Harut,  a  Moslem  demon,  240. 
Harvard     graduate     winning     his 

Japanese  mother,  49. 
Hgtred,  Buddha  on,  117. 
Heaven  and   Earth,    193,    198,   208. 
Heaven    as    China's    ruler,    195. 
Heaven  of  Confucianism,   Law  of, 

191,   192,   193. 

Heaven,    Son    of,    in   Japan,   40. 
Heaven-Father    the    equivalent    of 

deity  names,   57. 
Heavenly  Teacher,  Taoism's  Pope, 

171. 

Hell,   Moslem,    244. 
Hells  of  Buddhism,   no;   fear  of, 

124. 
Hero   worship:    In   Japan,    33,    34; 

of    emperors,    44,    45;    of    Con- 
fucianism,   199—201. 
Hierarchy  of  Japanese   Buddhism, 

15°. 

Hina-yana,   Little  Vehicle  of  Bud- 
dhism, 83,   137,   145- 
Hinduism:     For    main     sub-topics, 

see     Contents    of    ch.    Ill;    for 

minor      points,       see       italicised 

headings   and  words  of  ch.   III. 
History     of     Hinduism     must     be 

studies,   54. 

Holi,    impure    Hindu    festival,    69. 
Home  religions  of  Buddhism,  152- 

154- 
Hope:  lacking  in  African  religion, 

14;   inspired  by  Buddhism,    141, 

142. 
Horse    at    Shinto    shrines,    white, 

37- 

Hot  springs  of  Japan,  40. 
Houris    of    paradise,    259. 
House  building  and  spirits,    122. 
Householder    of     Buddhism,     115, 

116. 

Hczumi  quoted,   Prof.,   33. 
Hymns  of  Hinduism,   55. 
Hypocrisy,  Buddha  on,   117. 

Iblls,   Moslem  name  of  devil,  240. 

Idolatry:  in  Hinduism,  63,  68, 
69;  encouraged  by  Roman  Ca- 
tholicism, 270—281. 

Illiberality  of   Christianity  denied, 

Illustration    desirable,    75,    77- 
Image-makers  encouraged  by  Bud- 
dhism,  139. 

Image  worship  and  Roman  Ca- 
tholicism, 279. 


INDEX 


295 


Images  of  Buddha,  06. 

Iman,   Moslem   belief,   238—245. 

Immobility     of     China     explained, 

186,    188,    189,    191. 
Immorality   of   Hindu    gods,    69. 
Immortality       not       wanting       in 

Buddhism,    149,    150. 
Immortals    of    Taoism,    the,     175, 

176. 
Imperial    favor    shown    Buddhists, 

136,  137,  138,   139- 
Imperial    relationships    of    Shinto- 
ism,   30—32,  40,  41. 
Impurity     and     the     confessional, 

273,    274. 
Incarnation:       Hindu,       60,       72; 

lacking   in    Islam,    257. 
Indra,  Rain-god,  57. 
Influence:    of    Confucius,    190;    of 

Judaism,    227. 

Ingwa,   Japanese   for   Karma,    146. 
Injil,    Moslem    name    for    Gospel, 

Moslem, 


241. 


Inquirers,    dealing    with 

263,   264. 
Insincerity  of  opponents  in  India, 

74- 
Inspiration,    Moslem    doctrine    of, 

241. 
Intellect;     Exalted    in     Buddhism, 

127;   intellectual  power  of  Jews, 

229. 
Interviews   with   inquirers,    78,    79, 

131 ;  with  Jews,  233. 
Intolerance  of  error,   Moslem,  255. 
Ise    Shrine   of    Shintoism,    38,    40, 

42- 

Islam    defined,    238. 
Izanagi   and   Izanami,    31,    33,   41, 

42. 

Jade  Emperor,  166,  171,  172  and 
note,  176. 

Japan's  Imperial  Line,  30. 

Jatakas,  Birth-stories  of  Bud- 
dhism, 88. 

Jesus:  and  Buddha  compared,  89, 
95,  156,  157;  in  the  Koran,  257. 

}hana,   exalted  mental  states,  90. 
ihad,      religious      warfare,      253, 
254- 

Jindoyi  of  Africa,  9,  10. 

Tingulube,  African,  10—12. 

Jinn,  or  genii.  240. 

Jnana-marg,  '  way  of  Knowledge," 
58. 

Ju    Chiao,    Confucianism,    185. 

Judaism:  For  main  sub-topics,  see 
Contents  of  ch.  VIII;  for  minor 
points,  see  italicised  words  and 
phrases  of  that  chapter. 

Judgment,   Day   of,   243,    244. 

Jupiter  and  Aryan  equivalent,  57. 


Ju  Zen,  Ten  Commandments,  143, 
146. 

Kaaba  prayed   toward,   237. 

Kaf,  mountains  of,  240. 

Karma:       In     Hinduism,     68;     in 

Buddhism,     100,     103,     107-109, 

127,    128,    146. 
Karma-marg,     "  path     of    works," 

58. 
Khagg-avisanasutta       quoted,       89, 

US- 
Kobo     Daishi,     Buddhist     prelate, 

138. 

Kohler    quoted,    222,    223,    224. 
Kojiki,   contents,   31. 
Kc  ken,   Empress   of  Japan,    140. 
Komyo  and  the  beggars,   Empress, 

140. 
Koran  referred  to,  239,   240,  241, 

242,  259,  260. 
Korean   introduction   of   Buddhism 

into  Japan,    135,    136. 
Krishna,  60,  61,  69,  72. 
Kfoenig  quoted,  221. 
Kshatriyas,   63. 
K'un  Lun    Mountains  of  Taoism, 

175,  176. 

Kurozumi   sect   in   Japan,   43. 
Kusala,    see   Merit-making. 

Lack  of  preparation  injures  mis- 
sionaries, 19,  20. 

Language:  Possibilities  of  African, 
7;  dialects  spoken  by  the  pos- 
sessed, 9;  should  be  learned  be- 
fore entering  into  controversies, 
17- 

Lao-tzfi,  facts  concerning,  165, 
1 66. 

Law:  In  place  of  God,  inexorable, 
109;  of  Heaven,  Confucian, 
191,  192,  193,  208. 

Lay  leaders,  attitude  of  Romanist, 
288,  289. 

Learning,  love  of,  among  Japanese, 
141. 

Lent   in    Burma,    121,    122. 

Levee  of  the  gods  of  Taoism,  177. 

Li.  abstract  right,    169. 

Li  Hung-chang,  a  hero  in  China, 
201. 

Liberality,   119. 

Liberty  in    China,  individual,   191. 

Liberty    in    Japan,    religious,    41. 

Licentiousness:  in  Shintoism,  39, 
45 ;  encouraged  in  Hinduism,  69. 

Liquor    in    Africa,    6. 

Literary  abilities  of  Jews,  229; 
literary  value  of  Koran,  241. 

Literature:  Used  with  inquirers, 
79;  for  Jews,  233. 


296 


INDEX 


Little    Vehicle    of    Buddhism,    83, 

137,   145- 
Liturgy    important    for    Orthodox 

Jew,   221. 
Living    essential    as    teaching,    18, 

19. 
Love:    In  African  religion,  9,   13; 

loving-kindness,    118;    necessary 

in  Jewish  missionary,  230. 
Luck,   gods  of,   40,  46. 
Lull,   Raymond,  258. 
Lust,  See  Raga. 
Lying    permitted    by    Mohammed, 

258. 

Maghasutta  quoted,   105. 

Mahabharata,  Indian  epic,  56,  59, 
60. 

Mahagandi,    Burmese   sect,    123. 

Maha-yana,  Great  Vehicle  of  Bud- 
dhism, 83,  145. 

Maimonides'   creed,  216. 

Malikite  Moslems,  238. 

Man,  Buddhism's  doctrine  of,  99— 
102. 

Manava  Dharma  Sastra,  56. 

Mandarins  of  Hades,  172. 

Mandiki    of  Africa,  8,  9. 

Manes,  "  departed  lives,"  8,  9, 
10,  14. 

Manichaean  parallels  in  Taoism, 
169. 

Mantra  of  Hinduism,   55,  58. 

Manu,  Laws  of,  56,  58,  70. 

Mara,  Buddhist  Tempter  and  god 
of  lust,  90,  91,  105;  proces- 
sion in  honor  of,  180,  181. 

Marriage:  In  Buddhism,  116; 
"  for  fun,"  253. 

Marfit,    a    Moslem    demon,    241. 

Maya,   Buddha's  mother,   88. 

Mecca  pilgrimage,   249—251. 

Mediator  needless,  urged  in  In- 
dia, 75. 

Mediator  of  Taoism,  176. 

Medical  missions  for  Moslems, 
261. 

Medicine  and  religion  in  Africa, 
7,  .8. 

Medina,   251. 

Mediums:  In  Japan,  child,  150; 
in  China,  179. 

Merit-making,  65;  Buddhist  doc- 
trine of,  126. 

Meru,  central  mountain  of  world, 
99- 

Messiah,  Orthodox  Jews'  view  of 
the,  _2i7. 

Messianic   time   defined,    217   note. 

Metallurgy  of  Taoism,  164,   168. 

Millions  of  gods,    eight,   38,   39. 

Mimansa  school  of  philosophy  in 
India,  55. 


Mind,  attitudes  of,  to  be  acquired 
by  Buddhists,  147. 

Mirror    of     Shintoism,    28,     29. 

Missionaries  to  Moslems,  258, 
259. 

Missionary  dealings  with  reli- 
gions: In  Africa,  15—19;  in 
Japan,  47—49;  in  India,  71- 
79;  in  Buddhist  lands,  129,  131; 
with  Jews,  230. 

Missionary  qualifications:  Sym- 
pathy, 16— 18;  godly  living,  18, 
19;  thorough  training,  19—21; 
*  conciliatory  spirit,  71-73;  self- 
control,  73,  74;  prayerfulness, 
73>  79;  patience,  129,  130;  love, 
230. 

Missions  to  Papal  lands,  274,  275, 
286—290. 

Misunderstandings  between  native 
and  missionary,  16,  17. 

Mitchell,    Murray,    quoted,    62. 

Modern  Hinduism,  50— 65.  See 
headings  for  subtopics. 

Mohammed,  243,  258;  quoted,  245, 
246,  256,  258. 

Mohammedanism:  For  main  sub- 
topics, see  Contents  of  ch.  IX; 
for  minor  points,  see  italicised 
words  and  phrases  of  that  chap- 
ter. 

Monks  of  Buddhism,   104. 

Monotheism  in  India,  traces  of, 
56,  57- 

Monuments  to  Japanese  soldiers, 
36. 

Moon,  Altar  of,  at  Peking,  194. 

Moral  development  hindered,  283; 
moral  element  in  nature  wor- 
ship, 196,  197. 

Morality  of  Buddhism,  basis  of, 
102. 

Moslem   described,   ideal,    245. 

Mountains  of  Taoism,  sacred, 
176. 

Mozumdar,  C.,  religious  reformer 
65. 

Muir    quoted,    258. 

Muller   on   Dyaus-pitar,   57. 

Munisutta  quoted,    116. 

Munkar  black  angel  of  Moslems, 
240. 

Murdoch   on   the   Vedas,    55. 

M'zuzah,  sign  on  doorpost,  220. 

Nakir,  black  angel  of  Moslems, 
240. 

Name  given  dead  Buddhists,  new, 
155- 

Names  of   God  in   Africa,   6,   7. 

National  needs  of  Japan,  Bud- 
dhism adapted  to,  143. 

Nats  of  Burma,   122. 


INDEX 


Nature  and  its  phenomena,  effects 

of:    on    Africans,    3;    in    Japan, 

38,   141. 

Nature    religions,    see    ch.    I. 
Nature  worship:  In  Japan,  38,  39, 

44;    of    Confucianism,    192—197. 
Neesima  winning  his   father,  49. 
Negro,   see  African. 
New    Islam,   261. 
Nidana,  chain  of  causality,  88. 
Nirvana     of     Buddhism,     86,     88, 

91,   101,  102,  103,  107,   no,  113, 

114,    no,    125,   144,    148. 
nKulunkulu,    Zulu   name   for  God, 

6. 

Noble  Eightfold  Path,  92,   104. 
Northern  School  of  Buddhism,  83. 
Number    of     Mohammedans,     237 

and  note. 
Nyaya  school  in  India,  55. 

Objections  to  Christianity:  In  In- 
dia, 74-78;  Buddhist,  130,  131; 
Jewish,  231,  232. 

Offerings:  to  deities  in  Africa, 
3,  ii,  12;  to  Japanese  heroes, 
36;  to  Buddhist  deities,  153. 

Old    age,    Lao-tzfi    upon,    166. 

Old  Boy,  translation  of  Lao-tzu, 
165. 

Old  Testament  and  sacerdotalism, 
268. 

Om,  mystic  syllable  of  Hinduism, 
60. 

Omar  quoted,  251. 

Open-mindedness  of  the  Japan- 
ese, 140,  141. 

Opponents  of  Buddhism,  Japan- 
ese, 136. 

Opportunity  for  missionaries  in 
Africa,  21—23. 

Organization  of  Japanese  Bud- 
dhism, 150,  151. 

Oriental  Banyan,  Buddhism  the, 
163. 

Origin   of  sacerdotalism,    268. 

Orthodox  Jews,  beliefs  of,  216— 
220,  229. 

Ottapa,   fear  of  hell,    124. 

Outcastes,  63,  64. 

Pagodas    of    Buddhism,    120,    121, 

122. 
Paint    lacking    in    Shinto    shrines, 

28. 
Pancasila,     Five     Precepts,     which 

see. 
Pantheism :    Shintoism   a   form    of, 

43,  44;  and  polytheism,  58  note, 

62,  63. 
Pspal   lands  proper  mission  fields, 

274,    275. 
Paper-men    mama   in    China,    179, 

i  So. 


Paradise,   Moslem,   244. 

1'ariniryaija  of  Buddha,  97,   114. 

Path,   Noble   Eightfold,   92,    104. 

Patience'  needed  by  missionaries, 
129,  130. 

Patriotism    and    Shintoism,    34—36. 

Peking,   194,  204. 

P'eng  Lai  Islands  of  Taoism,   175. 

People  affected  by  Romanist 
evils,  275—278. 

Perfections,   the   Ten.    117,    118. 

Persian  thought  in  Taoism    169. 

Personality  in  Chinese  nature 
worship  194,  195. 

Personnel  of  Buddhist  mission  to 
Japan,  136. 

Peter's  Pence  in  Taoism,  177, 
178. 

Phallic    worship    in    Japan,    39. 

Philosophic  Hinduism,   58,  59. 

Philosophical  schools  of  India, 
six,  ss,  56. 

Photography  and  Shintoism,  34. 

Pictures,  Shintoism's  use  of,  37, 
38,.  44- 

Pilgrimages   of    Islam,    249—251. 

Pillars    of    Moslem    religion,    245. 

Piracy  of  Taoism,  literary,    164. 

Pifakas,  or  "  Baskets "  of  Bud- 
dhism, 84,  86,  87. 

Pole-star,  god  of  the,    173. 

Polygamy:  In  Africa,  17;  of  Mos- 
lems, 252,  253. 

Poorer  classes  appealed  to  by 
Buddhism,  142. 

Pope  Chang,  the  Taoist,  171,  176^ 
178. 

Posture  in  prayer,  Moslem,  247. 

Prayer  in  mission  lands:  In  Af- 
rica, 7,  12;  in  Japan  38,  45, 
46,  148,  152,  154;  Buddhist,  98; 
helpful  to  missionary,  73,  79; 
of  Moslems,  246,  247;  in  Or- 
thodox Judaism,  220,  228. 

Prayer-book  of  Orthodox  Jews, 
220. 

Preaching:  Lacking  in  Shintoism, 
28;  preaching  to  Buddhists,  131; 
to  Moslems,  261—263. 

Precepts:  Of  Buddhism,  117-119; 
of  the  Talmud,  213,  219. 

Predestination   in   Islam,   244,  245. 

Prelates,  Japanese,    138. 

Pride,   Buddha  on,  117. 

Priesthood:  In  Japan,  148,  149, 
150,  151;  priesthood  and  sac- 
erdotalism, Roman,  271;  priests 
affected  by  Roman  system,  276. 

Priests   of   Taoism,    164. 

Procession  in  honor  of  Mara,  180, 
181. 

Prohibitions    of    Buddhism,    146. 

Pronunciation  of  foreign  words 
and  names,  key  to,  Facing  page  i. 


298 


INDEX 


Prophets  of  Islam,  242,  243. 
Psalms  used  as  charms,  221. 
Puranas  of  India,  56,  72. 
Pure'Ones,  the  Three,   166,  171. 
Purifications  of  Islam,  247. 

Rabbinical  injunctions,   228. 

Raga,  lust,  103,   104. 

Rahula,    Gautama's    son,    89. 

Railroads  an  aid  to  Shintoism,  38. 

Rajagriha,   87,   90. 

Ram  Mohan  Roy,  Indian  reformer, 
6s- 

Ramabai,   quoted,  Pundita,   70. 

Rama-chandra,    60. 

Ramayana,   Indian  epic,   56,  60. 

Recording  angels  of  Islam,   240. 

Reform  movements  in  Hinduism, 
65.  67;  Confucius'  conception  of 
reform,  188. 

Reformed  Judaism:  beliefs  of, 
218;  methods  of,  218,  219. 

Refuges  of  Buddhism,  the  Three, 
97- 

Religion:  Sense  of  term  in  Af- 
rica, 4,  5;  its  fruits,  5;  ele- 
ments, 6-13;  weakness,  13,  14; 
its  strength,  14,  15;  is  Bud- 
dhism a  religion?  84,  85;  in 
Catholic  lands,  282. 

Religious   liberty    in    Japan,    41. 

Remmon  sect  in  Japan,  43. 

Renunciation  of  Buddha,  Great, 
89,  90. 

Resolved-to-die    Band,    35. 

Resurrection :  Jewish  belief  in  the, 
217;  Moslem.  Day  of,  243,  244. 

Revival  of  pure  Shinto,  41. 

Riches,  love  of,  117. 

Righteousness  and  Buddhism,  142. 

Rights  of  man  in  China,   191. 

Rig-veda,  54;  quotation  from,  56, 
57- 

Ritual  of  Buddhism  attractive,  142. 

Ritualism,  tendencies  of,  281, 
282. 

Ritualistic  Hinduism,  57,  58. 

Rivers  deified  in  India,  61. 

Roman  Catholicism:  For  main 
sub-topics,  _  see  Contents  of  ch. 
X;  for  minor  subdivisions,  see 
italicised  words  and  phrases  of 
that  chapter. 

Rosary  of   Buddhists,   122. 

Russia,  Japan's   war    with,   35. 

Ryobu,  in  Japan,  40,  41,  138,  152. 

Sacerdotal       system      of       Roman 

Catholicism,   267—271. 
Sacred  books:    Of  Hinduism  54—56; 

of  Buddhism,  86,  87;  of  Taoism, 

164. 

Sacred  places  of  India,  61. 
Sacrifice,  see  Atonement. 


Sage:     Confucius     on     the,      190; 

worship  of,  197—199;  Ideal  Sage, 

197,  198;  worship  of,  197—199. 
Sakti   worship,   56,   61. 
Sakya-muni,    136. 
Salvation    in    Buddhism,    109—113, 

125. 

Sama-veda,   54. 
Samhita  of   Hinduism,   55. 
Samsara,  transmigration,    no. 
Sangha,    the    Buddhist   Order,   92, 

97. 
Sankhya   school   in   India,    55,   56, 

*  5?-. 

Saphir    quoted,    231. 

Sastras  of  Hinduism,  62. 

Savior  of  the  world,  Buddha, 
145. 

Scholar's  view  of  ancestral  wor- 
ship, Chinese,  203. 

Schools    of    Buddhism    83,    84. 

Scriptures  useful  with  Buddhists, 
131. 

Sects:  Of  Shinto,  42,  43;  of 
Southern  Buddhism,  123;  of 
Buddhism  in  Japan,  148,  149; 
Moslem,  237,  238. 

Secular  influence  of  Roman 
priesthood,  272. 

Secularization    of     Shintoism,    42. 

Self-control  of  missionary  de- 
sirable, 73,  74;  Buddhism  on, 
118. 

Self-examination  of  Buddhism, 
153- 

Selfishness  fostered  by  Talmud, 
226. 

Sen,    Guru    Prasad,    quoted.    62. 

Sensuality   of   Moslems,    258,    259. 

Sermons,   Buddhist    154,   155. 

Serpent  worship  in  Southern 
Asia,  84. 

Shafite  Moslems,   238. 

Shang  Ti,  in  Taolst  phrase,  172 
and  note. 

Shiah    Moslems,    238. 

Shingpn  sect  of  Buddhism,   138. 

Shinto,  see  Shintoism.  Definition, 
29,  30. 

Shintoism:  For  main  sub-topics, 
see  Contents  ch.  II;  for  minor 
points,  note  the  italicized  words 
and  headings  of  ch.  II;  insuf- 
ficient, 135;  view  of  earthly  dis- 
tinctions, 142;  conflict  with 
Buddhism,  137. 

Shi  On,  Four  Favors,   145,   152. 

Shokon,  or  monuments,  of  Shin- 
toism, 36. 

Shotoku    Taishi,    137^. 

Shrines  of  Shintoism,  27,  28; 
number  of,  29;  worship  at,  34. 

Shwe  Dagon  Pagoda  in  Rangoon, 
121,  122. 


INDEX 


299 


Sickness,  how  accounted  for  in 
Africa,  8,  9. 

Siddhartha,  term  applied  to  Bud- 
dha, 88. 

Sin:  No  word  for  in  the  Bantu, 
13;  Buddhist  view  of,  102—107, 
109,  124,  125;  Jewish  view  of 
.  222,  223. 

Siva,  60. 

Six  paths  or  worlds  of  Buddhism, 
146,  147. 

Skandhas  of   Buddhism,    100,    108. 

Skepticism  and  Roman  Catholi- 
cism, 278. 

Slavery   under   Islam,    252,    253. 

Smriti    of    Hinduism,    55,    56. 

Social   benefits  of   Buddhism,    128. 

Social  conditions  in  Africa,  5, 
1 6,  17. 

Soldiers,  spirit  of  Japanese,  35, 
36. 

Solidarity  of  man  taught  by  Hin- 
duism, 67. 

Solstitial   worship   at    Peking,    194. 

Son  of  Heaven.  In  Japan,  40; 
in  China,  193,  194. 

Soul,  Buddha's  view  of  the,  86, 
99,  109. 

Sculs,  Chinese  theory  as  to, 
178. 

Sources  of  Moslem  belief,  238, 
239- 

Southern  School  of  Buddhism,  83, 
84,  88. 

Spirit  worship:  In  Southern  Asia, 
84;  in  Burmese  homes,  122. 

Spiritual  power  abused,  272. 

Spread  of  Buddhism  in  Asia,   163, 

.   164- 

Sruti  books  of  Hinduism,   54,   55. 

Star  gods  of  Taoism,  172,  173, 
174. 

Strength  of  religions:  In  Africa, 
14,  15;  of  Shintoism,  44,  45;  of 
Hinduism,  67;  of  Buddhism  in 
Southern  Asia,  128,  129;  in 
Japan,  141-143,  156;  of  Juda- 
ism, 227-230;  of  Islam,  254- 
256;  of  Roman  Catholicism, 
285. 

Student's  interest  in  Hinduism, 
S3,  54- 

Sucilomasutta  quoted,   101. 

Suddhodana,   Buddha's  father,   88. 

Sudras,    63. 

Suffering,   Noble  Truth  of,   103. 

Sulagandi,   sect  of   Burma,    123. 

Sun,  Altar  of,   at  Peking,   194. 

Sun  goddess  of  Japan,  28,  31, 
4°.  138. 

Sun   worshipped  in  Japan,  38,  42. 

Sunday  and   Reformed  Jews,   219. 

Sunn!   Sect   of  Moslems,   237. 


Superstitions:  In  Africa,  4,  12,  13, 
16;  of  Taoism,  179,  180. 

Support  of  Shintoism,  state,  41. 

Surety  idea  helpful,   77. 

Surya,   India's   Sun   god,    57. 

Sutras  of  Taoism,   164. 

Sutta  Pitaka,  87. 

Sword  of  Shintoism,  significance, 
29;  sword  making,  39. 

Sympathy  for  native  views  nec- 
essary for  missionaries,  16,  17. 
1 8. 

Syncretism,    religious:    In    Japan, 
138;   in   China,    163. 
on,  190. 

Tablet    of    Confucius,    inscription 

Tablets,    ancestral,    206. 

Talmud  described,  217,  218;  re- 
ferred to,  218,  219,  226,  228, 
229,  230. 

Tanha,   desire,   103,   104,   105,   106. 

Tantras  of  India,   56. 

Tantric  worship,   61,  69. 

Tao,  quotations  bearing  upon,  165, 
166,  167,  168. 

Tao   Te   Ching,    167,    168. 

Taoism:  For  main  topics,  see 
Contents  of,  ch.  VI;  for  sub- 
ordinate topics,  see  italicised 
words  and  phrases  of  the  chap- 
ter. 

Tathagata,  title  of  Buddha,  93, 
114. 

Tattooing,    12;   in  Japan,  39. 

Teacher  of  Taoism,  The  Heav- 
enly, 177. 

Temmu's  edict  concerning  Bud- 
dhism, 139. 

Temple:  First  Buddhist,  in  Japan, 
135;  temple  building  era  of  Jap- 
anese Buddhism,  139;  temples 
of  Buddhism,  151;  worship  at, 
154;  of  Taoism,  172. 

Ten  Commandments  of  Buddhism, 
145,  146- 

Tendai  sect  of  Buddhism,   138. 

Tenri  sect  in  Japan,  43. 

Theology:  Of  Taoism,  169—174; 
distorted  Moslem,  257. 

Theosophy  in   India,  67. 

Thirteen  Articles  of  Orthodox 
Jews,  216,  217. 

Three  Bonds  of  Confucianism, 
209. 

Three  religions  of  China,  163. 

Three    Stars   of   Taoism,    173. 

Times    of    Moslem    prayer,    247. 

Titles:  Of  Lao-tzu,  165;  of  Mo- 
hammed, 242. 

Tolerance  between  Shintoism  and 
Buddhism,  138;  of  Buddhism, 
142. 


300 


INDEX 


Torii  of  Shintoism,  27;  meaning 
of  word,  27. 

Transit    into    Africa,    22. 

Translation,  importance  of  work, 
22,  23. 

Transmigration:  In  Africa,  14; 
in  Buddhism,  no,  113;  in  Hin- 
duism, 59  and  note,  65;  in 
Buddhism,  107. 

Transmutation  of  metals  into 
gold,  1 68. 

Travelers'  testimony  as  to  Roman 
Catholicism,  284. 

Tree  worship  in  Japan,  39. 

Triad :  Of  Hindu  divinities,  60;  of 
Buddhism,  97. 

Trimurti,    see   Triad. 

Trotter   quoted,   Miss,   259,   260. 

Truth,    Buddha   a   king   of,    145. 

Truth   powerful   against  error,   48. 

Truths,  the  Four  Noble,  103,  104, 
no. 

uDio,  Zulu  name  of  God,  6. 
Unhealthiness      of     Africa      over- 
rated, 21. 

Uniformity,    see    Immobility. 
Unity    lacking    in    Hinduism,    61, 

62. 

Unsho   quoted,    Rev.   Mr.,    147. 
Upadanas,  Clingings,  99,   100,   104, 

1 06. 

Upaka,   an  Indian  ascetic,  91. 
Upanishads   of   Hinduism,    55,    58, 

63. 

Usira  root,   106. 
Utensils    of    Shintoism,    three,    28, 

29. 
uTixo,  Zulu  name  for  God,   6. 

i 

Vagabond  priests  in  Japan,   150. 
Vaiseshika   school    in   India,    55. 
Vaisyas,  63. 
Varuna  in  India,  57. 
Vedaiita  school  of  philosophy,   55, 

56,    63,    67. 

Vedas,    the    four,    54,    55. 
Vedic  Hinduism,  56,  57. 
Vesali,   87. 

Vijayasutta  quoted,  101. 
Vmaya  Pitaka;  87. 
Virgin,   worship  of  the,  279. 
Virtue,    Confucianism's    view    of, 

209,    210. 
Vishnu,  60,   72. 
Visions  of  Gautama,  the  four,  89. 

Wahhabis,  254. 


Walled   cities   of   China,    172. 

Ward's   services   to    China,    201. 

Wars  of  Moslems,  religious,  253, 
254- 

Way  of  life  of   Buddhism,    147. 

Way  of   the   Gods,   see   Shintoism. 

Weaknesses  of  religions:  In  Af- 
rica, 13,  i<j;  of  Shintoism,  45, 
46;  of  Hinduism,  68—71;  of 
Buddhism,  85,  123-128,  155- 
157;  of  Judaism,  222—226;  of 
Islam,  236—259. 

Wealth,   god  of,  40. 

Wheel  of  the  Law  of  Buddhism, 
91,  92. 

White  men  bring  civilization  to 
Africa,  5,  6. 

Widowhood,   in   India,    70.   71. 

Will  impaired  by  Hinduism, 
freedom  of,  68. 

Williams,   Monier,   quoted,  98. 

Winning  men  vs.  confuting  them, 
73;  winning  Moslems,  259—264. 

Wise  quoted,   222,  224,  225. 

Witch  doctor  of  Africa,  7,  8. 

Witches    in    China,    179. 

Woman:  Degraded  by  Hinduism, 
70,  7 1 ;  founds  a  Japanese 
sect,  43;  women  propagators  of 
Buddhism,  139,  140;  in  Juda- 
ism, degradation  of,  226. 

World,  Buddhist  doctrine  of,  98, 
99. 

Worship:  Of  the  Jingulube,  n, 
12;  other  African  worship,  14, 
15;  of  Shintoism,  28,  32—34, 
3<5,  37.  38-40,  44;  of  Buddhism, 
120—123,  152—154;  of  Confuci- 
anism, 192—208. 

Writings  of  Confucianism,  185, 
1 86. 

Yajur-veda,    54. 

Yasodhara,   Gautama's  wife,   89. 
Yin  and  Yang  of  Taoism,  169. 
Yoga  philosophy  in  India,  55,  56, 

67. 
Yomei  favors  Japanese  Buddhists, 

136,    13.7- 
Yueh   Fei,   Chinese  hero,  200. 

Zakat,   see  Alms. 

Zako,     name     of     Buddhist     high 

priests,  150. 

Zem-zem,   Moslem   well,   250. 
Zeus    and    his    Aryan    equivalent, 

~.57: 

Zionism,  221,  232. 


KEY  TO  APPROXIMATE  PRONUNCIATIONS 


THE  orthography  and  pronunciation  of  foreign  words  in 
this  volume  present  peculiar  difficulties  for  the  reason  that  the 
religions  discussed  are  found  in  a  number  of  different  coun- 
tries, each  of  which  has  its  own  way  of  spelling  and  pro- 
nouncing the  proper  names  and  technical  terms  of  the  same 
religion.  Thus  Buddhist  words  coming  from  the  Sanskrit 
enter  the  original  canon  in  Pali,  but  are  modifieid  in  Burmese 
and  Japanese.  This  accounts  for  inconsistencies  in  the  volume. 

JAPANESE  WORDS   IN   CHAPTERS   II,   V. 

o  as  in  note. 

6  prolonged  o. 

u  as  oo  in  book;  nearly  inaudi- 
ble at  end  of  dissyllables  and 
polysyllables;  often  elided  in 
middle  of  words. 

u    prolonged    u. 

z  before  u  as  dz. 


a  as  in  father. 

ai  as  in   aisle. 

au   as   o   in    bone. 

e    as    in    prey;    at   end    of    words 

as   in    met. 
ei   as    in    weigh, 
g   as   in   go;    in   middle   of   words 

as  tig. 
i  as  in   machine. 

FOREIGN    WORDS   IN 

a   as  in   rural. 

a  as  in  father. 

ai  as  in  aisle. 

au   as  in   German   haws. 

1'h    as   in    abhor. 

db   as   in   ad/iere;   as  th  in   father 

(ch.  IX). 
e   as  in   prey. 
g  as   in   gun. 
gh  as   in  log/touse. 
i  as  in   fill. 
I  as  in  machine, 
jh   as  dgeh   in   hedgehog. 
kh    as    in    packhorsc;     as    ch    in 

Scotch  loch   (ch.   IX). 


CHAPTERS   III,    IV,    IX. 

m  as  n  in   French  mon. 

n   as  in   French  mon. 

n  as   in  sing. 

n   as   ng  in   singe. 

o  as  in  go 

ph   as    in   uphold. 

ri   as   in   merrily. 

rl  as  in   marine. 

s  as  in  sir. 

s  as  in  jure. 

t  as  in  (rue. 

th   as  in  anthill;   as  in  think   (ch. 

IX). 

u   as  in  pull, 
u  as  oo  m  too. 


CHINESE   WORDS   IN    CHAPTERS   VI,    VII. 


a  as  in   father. 

at  as  in  aisle. 

ao  as   pw   in   now. 

ch  as  j   in  /ar. 

ch'   as   in   change. 

e  as  in  her. 

e   as   in   pen. 

ei    as   in   weigh. 

lis    as    hss    of    hissing. 

i    as    in    machine;    oefore    n    and 

ng,   as   in    pin. 
ia   as  eo  in  geology, 
ie   as   in   siesta, 
ih  as  er  in  cover. 
iu   as   eu   in   Jehu. 
i    as   r   in   regiment, 
k   as   g  in   gun. 
k*   as    in    kin. 
ng  as  in   sing, 
e  as  oa  in  boa. 


ou  as  in  though. 

p  as  b. 

p'  as  p.      . 

rh    as    rr   in   burr. 

ss    as   in    hiss. 

t    as   d. 

t'   as   t. 

ts  as  ds  in  pads. 

ts4   as  in   cats. 

tz  as   ds  in   pads. 

tz'   as   ts   in   cats 

u   as   oo   in  too. 

ua    }  (  a 

uai  f  as  u  i  ai 

uei    (  plus  j  ei 

ui     )  U 

u   as   in   rural.  _ 

u   as  German  u. 

iia   as    u   plus   a  in  on. 

iie  as  u  plus  e  in  yet. 


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